list of references but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . april 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message thames & hudson founded 1949 founder walter neurath and eva neurath country of origin united kingdom headquarters location london distribution littlehampton book services uk w. w. norton & company us publication types books official website www.thamesandhudson.com thames & hudson also thames and hudson and sometimes t & h for brevity is a publisher of illustrated books on art architecture design and visual culture . 1 with its headquarters in london england it has a sister company in new york and subsidiaries in melbourne singapore and hong kong . in paris it has a further subsidiary company interart which is engaged in the distribution of english language books and a sister company ditions thames & hudson . it has been an independent family owned company since its founding in 1949 . thames & hudson s world of art series is especially well known . in particular a concise history of painting from giotto to c zanne by michael levey former director of the national gallery in london originally published in 1962 isbn 0 500 20024 6 is a classic and authoritative introduction to the history of european art from the beginnings of perspective in italy to the foundations of modern art at the start of the 20th century . thames & hudson employs some 200 people worldwide mostly in the london headquarters with an annual publishing programme that releases approximately 180 books a year on art photography architecture graphics three dimensional design industrial furniture product gardens fashion and textiles archaeology history travel lifestyle and interiors and popular culture . contents 1 history 2 innovation 3 recent decades 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit thames & hudson was established by walter neurath who was born in vienna in 1903 and his wife eva neurath . he left that city where he ran an art gallery and published illustrated books with an emphasis on education arriving in london in 1938 . he initially worked as production director of adprint a business established by fellow viennese migr wolfgang foges . neurath and foges went on to pioneer the concept of what is today known as book packaging in which book ideas are conceived commissioned produced and sold to publishers in different markets in their own languages and under their own imprints co editions in order to create large print runs and lower unit production costs . neurath s concept was the first sign of many innovations that through thames & hudson he would later introduce to the world of publishing . wishing to take co edition book packaging further and recognizing the need to amortize the high production costs of illustrated books neurath established his own publishing house incorporating offices in london at 244 high holborn and new york in the autumn of 1949 . thus arose the company name thames & hudson the rivers represented by two dolphins symbolizing friendship and intelligence one facing east one west suggesting a connection between the old world and the new . eva neurath who had arrived in london in 1939 from berlin she was at that time married to wilhelm feuchtwang and worked alongside neurath at adprint co founded the company as partner . among the ten titles that were published in thames & hudson s first publication season in 1950 english cathedrals with photographs by swiss martin h rlimann who went on to create over twenty titles for the company was the first and most successful . a testament to the company s strong belief from the very start in the longevity of books it remained in print until 1971 . also appearing in the first year of publication was albert einstein s out of my later years an early indication of the publication programme s breadth . with the gradual and successful expansion of the list which grew from ten titles in 1950 to 144 in print in 1955 the company outgrew its high holborn offices and moved in 1956 to a georgian townhouse at 30 bloomsbury street just off bedford square then the epicentre of london publishing activity . the company remained at that address eventually expanding to five houses until 1999 . in 1958 thames & hudson launched what is one of its best known series the world of art which for the subsequent decades provided the backbone of its highly varied list . characterized by their pocketable size and black spines little black artbooks the series expanded in just seven years to include 49 titles . more than fifty years later over 300 titles have appeared in the series and many remain in print today . other major series that imparted depth and prestige to the list were ancient people and places edited by glyn daniel who from the 1950s helped to pioneer a wider interest in archaeology on television and in book form . more than 100 titles were published in the series over a 34 year period . the large format great civilizations series published from 1961 featured contributions by such esteemed academics as alan bullock asa briggs hugh trevor roper a. j. p. taylor and john julius norwich . on thames & hudson s tenth anniversary the uk publishing industry magazine the bookseller described the company as neither wedded to eclecticism nor dedicated to mass appeal it has produced some of the most ambitious picture books ever published ... and have sold them in a number which ten years ago would have been considered improbable and at prices which have won the surprised gratitude of thousands of readers . citation needed innovation edit throughout its history thames & hudson has led production innovation 1958 for example saw one of the earliest examples of the close creative integration of photographer editor design and production director working to produce a unified artist s book in thrones of earth and heaven roloff beny photographer in a large print run . in 1964 the company s production director introduced what are today commonly known as french folds dust jackets that are folded over on top and bottom to protect their edges . in 1974 in what the times described as a 1 000 year old publishing coup citation needed thames & hudson painstakingly reproduced the book of kells making a commercial edition of the little seen illuminated manuscript available around the world for the first time . in 2004 a four volume monograph on pritzker prize winning architect zaha hadid was published featuring different sized volumes that fit into an interlocking lucite case . having built one of the most important publishing houses in europe in fewer than two decades walter neurath died in 1967 at the age of 63 . sculptor henry moore wrote his death is a loss to our cultural life . citation needed sir herbert read observed that neurath more than any other single individual was responsible for the revolution in the publishing of art books and was one of those rare entrepreneurs who successfully combine business acumen with idealism . citation needed eva neurath became chairman . walter s son thomas who with his sister constance had joined the company in 1961 became managing director ; constance later served as art director for several decades . broadening the programme to include popular culture and fashion thomas neurath continued the international expansion of the company opening up an office in melbourne in 1970 spearheaded by then sales director trevor craker a year that saw 150 new books published and over 718 titles in print . in the united states the new york company which had closed in 1953 was re established in 1976 . it was initially led by paul gottlieb who later became president of harry abrams publishers in new york . in 1979 he was succeeded by peter warner who served the company for thirty years . will balliett has been president of thames & hudson inc. since 2009 . recent decades edit some photobooks published by thames & hudson from 1974 a day off to 2007 scrapbook bill brandt during the 1980s and 1990s thames & hudson continued to be defined by the wide spectrum and high quality of the books it published across all areas of visual creativity and by its presentation of new or little known subjects to a broad international audience . for example in 1984 subway art the first documentation of graffiti art was published and remained continuously in print for 25 years until its republication in an enlarged anniversary edition in 2009 . in 1988 at the dawning of the digital era a monograph in connection with an exhibition at london s victoria and albert museum on neville brody heralded the new importance of the graphic designer as more and more people turned to website design . in 2000 the company launched hip hotels giving rise to an era of lifestyle travel books targeted at a more globally mobile audience . the year 1999 witnessed two significant events the death at the age of 91 of eva neurath the founding partner who had served as chairman for 32 years ; and the 50th anniversary of the company . that year thames & hudson moved from its bloomsbury offices back to an address on high holborn with a space designed by architect john mcaslan . the company s dolphin logo more or less unchanged during the previous five decades was redesigned by uk brand consultancy the partners . by 2000 thames & hudson had opened offices in paris 1989 ditions thames & hudson singapore 1995 and hong kong 1997 . in 2005 jamie camplin who had joined the company in 1969 became managing director with thomas neurath becoming chairman of the board . both relinquished their posts in september 2013 when rolf grisebach became thames & hudson s chief executive officer and tim evans formerly sales and marketing director took up the post of chairman . susanna reisz neurath who led t & h s foreign rights department from 1992 to 1999 became deputy chairman joining johanna neurath design director as representatives of the founder s family at thames & hudson . 2 both are daughters of thomas neurath . see also edit list of publishers ian mackenzie kerr 1929 2005 a book designer with t & h for nearly 50 years references edit thames and hudson google books . press release from thames and hudson 9 july 2013 external links edit official website thames & hudson usa website thames & hudson australia website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title thames % 26 hudson & oldid 725876065 categories publishing companies established in 1949book publishing companies of the united kingdomcompanies based in londonvisual arts publishing companieshidden categories articles lacking in text citations from april 2011all articles lacking in text citationsall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from january 2015 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history 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