Weidenfeld & Nicolson

History

George Weidenfeld and Nigel Nicolson founded Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 1949 with a reception at Brown's Hotel, London. Among many other significant books, it published Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita (1959) and Nicolson's Portrait of a Marriage (1973), a frank biography of his mother Vita Sackville-West and father Harold Nicolson. In its early years Weidenfeld also published nonfiction works by Isaiah Berlin, Hugh Trevor-Roper, and Rose Macaulay, and novels by Mary McCarthy and Saul Bellow. Later it published titles by world leaders and historians, along with contemporary fiction and glossy illustrated books.

Weidenfeld was one of Orion's first acquisitions after the group's founding in 1991, and formed the core of its offerings. At that time Weidenfeld imprints included Phoenix, its own much earlier establishment; and J. M. Dent, acquired in 1988 along with its Everyman series. Orion was acquired in turn by Hachette Livre in 1998. The hardcover rights to Everyman Library were sold in 1991, and survive as a Random House property; paperbacks of Everyman Classics continued under Orion. In January 2002, Cassell imprints, including the Cassell Reference and Cassell Military were joined with the Weidenfeld imprints to form a new division under the name of Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Late in 2013, W&N published the British edition (and Hachette subsidiary Little, Brown the American edition) of I Am Malala, the memoir of Pakistani-born teenager Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb. Yousafzai is a female education activist, and the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2014.

Book series

• Illustrated Novel Library
• Lives
• Pleasures and Treasures
• The Young Historian Books (Series Editor: Patrick Moore)
• World University Library

References

References

1. "About Orion". Orion Publishing Group.
2. (20 January 2016). "Lord Weidenfeld obituary". [[The Guardian]].
3. A brief history, "Weidenfeld & Nicolson".
4. "FOB: Firms Out of Business".
5. A brief history, "Foundation".
6. (n.d.). "A Brief History of Orion Publishing Group".
7. [http://news.msn.com/pop-culture/shot-pakistani-teen-malala-yousafzai-writing-book "Shot Pakistani teen Malala Yousafzai writing book"] {{Webarchive. link. (2013-03-31 . [[Associated Press]] (London). 28 March 2013. MSN News (msn.org). Retrieved 11 April 2014.)
8. [http://www.worldcat.org/title/i-am-malala-the-girl-who-was-shot-by-the-taliban/oclc/858574381/editions?start_edition=1&sd=asc&referer=di&se=yr&qt=sort_yr_asc&editionsView=true&fq= "Formats and Editions of I am Malala"]. [[WorldCat]]. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
9. [https://seriesofseries.com/illustrated-novel-library/ Illustrated Novel Library], seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
10. [https://www.publishinghistory.com/lives-weidenfeld-nicolson.html The Lives Series (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) – Book Series List], publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
11. [https://www.publishinghistory.com/pleasures-and-treasures-weidenfeld-and-nicolson.html Pleasures and Treasures (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) – Book Series List], publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
12. [https://www.publishinghistory.com/the-young-historian-weidenfeld-nicolson.html The Young Historian Books (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) – Book Series List], publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
13. [https://www.publishinghistory.com/world-university-library-weidenfeld-and-nicolson.html World University Library (Weidenfeld and Nicolson) – Book Series List], publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
14. "About Orion". The Orion Publishing Group.