citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message john murray publisher parent company hachette uk brand under lagard re group status active founded 1768 ; 248 years ago 1768 founder john murray country of origin england headquarters location london publication types books official website www.johnmurray.co.uk john murray is an english publisher known for the authors it has published in its history including jane austen sir arthur conan doyle lord byron charles lyell johann wolfgang von goethe herman melville edward whymper and charles darwin . since 2004 it has been owned by conglomerate lagard re under the hachette uk brand . contents 1 history 2 john murray archive 3 john murray timeline 4 film adaptations of john murray titles 5 references 6 further reading 7 external links history edit john murray i 1745 1793 the eponymous founder of the publishing house the business was founded in london in 1768 by john murray i 1737 1793 1 an edinburgh born royal marines officer who built up a list of authors including isaac d israeli and published the english review . 2 john murray the elder was one of the founding sponsors of the london evening newspaper the star in 1788 . 3 he was succeeded by his son john murray ii who made the publishing house one of the most important and influential in britain . he was a friend of many leading writers of the day and launched the quarterly review in 1809 . he was the publisher of jane austen sir walter scott washington irving george crabbe and many others . his home and office at 50 albemarle street in mayfair was the centre of a literary circle fostered by murray s tradition of four o clock friends afternoon tea with his writers . murray s most notable author was lord byron who became a close friend and correspondent of his . murray published many of his major works paying him over 20 000 in rights . on 10 march 1812 murray published byron s second book childe harold s pilgrimage which sold out in five days leading to byron s observation i awoke one morning and found myself famous . on 17 may 1824 murray participated in one of the most notorious acts in the annals of literature . byron had given him the manuscript of his personal memoirs to publish later on . together with five of byron s friends and executors he decided to destroy byron s manuscripts because he thought the scandalous details would damage byron s reputation . opposed only by thomas moore the two volumes of memoirs were dismembered and burnt in the fireplace at murray s office . 4 unfortunately we do not know what was contained in the memoirs . john murray iii 1808 1892 continued the business and published charles eastlake s first english translation of goethe s theory of colours 1840 david livingstone s missionary travels 1857 and charles darwin s origin of species 1859 . murray iii contracted with herman melville to publish melville s first two books typee 1846 and omoo 1847 in england ; both books were presented as nonfiction travel narratives in murray s home and colonial library series alongside such works as the 1845 second edition of darwin s journals from his travels on the hms beagle . 5 john murray iii also started the murray handbooks in 1836 a series of travel guides from which modern day guides are directly descended . the rights to these guides were sold around 1900 and subsequently acquired in 1915 by the blue guides . his successor sir john murray iv 1851 1928 was publisher to queen victoria . among other works he published murray s magazine from 1887 until 1891 . competitor smith elder & co. was acquired in 1917 . his son sir john murray v 1884 1967 grandson john murray vi john arnaud robin grey murray ; 1909 1993 and great grandson john murray vii john richmond grey murray ; 1941 continued the business until it was taken over . in 2002 john murray was acquired by hodder headline which was itself acquired in 2004 by the french conglomerate lagard re group . since then it has been an imprint under lagard re brand hachette uk . 6 john murray archive edit the archive of john murray publishers from 1768 through to 1920 was offered for sale to the nation by john murray vii for 31 million and the national library of scotland has acquired it including the manuscript of charles darwin s origin of species . on 26 january 2005 it was announced that the national library was to be given 17.7 m by the heritage lottery fund towards the 31.2 m price offered by john murray on condition the library digitise the materials and make them openly available . the scottish executive agreed to make a contribution of 8.3 m with the national library setting a 6.5 m fundraising target for the remainder . 7 8 9 10 11 john murray timeline edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message 1768 john macmurray a former lieutenant of the marines buys a bookselling business at 32 fleet street . he changes his name to murray and uses his naval contacts to build up a thriving business 1807 the first bestseller a new system of domestic cookery . by a lady was published 1809 the influential periodical the quarterly review founded 1811 childe harold s pilgrimage by lord byron published 1812 john murray moved to 50 albemarle street its home for the next 191 years 1815 jane austen decides she would like to move to murray with emma published in 1815 1816 coleridge moved to john murray for christabel and other poems which included kubla khan 1836 the first guide books murray s handbooks published by john murray iii 1849 a groundbreaking observational study on the sikh people is published . 12 this comprehensive account arguably foreshadowed the british empire s first large scale attempt at using the scientific method to civilise populations ; this methodological approach later became known as eugenics . 1857 david livingstone s missionary travels published one of the many great 19th century publications of exploration from john murray 1859 on the origin of species by charles darwin published 1859 the first self help book samuel smiles s self help published 1863 henry walter bates s the naturalist on the river amazons published 1865 narrative of an expedition to the zambesi and its tributaries ; and of the discovery of the lakes shirwa and nyassa . 1858 1864 by david and charles livingstone published 13 1912 june published behind the night light by nancy price which was reprinted in june 1912 september 1912 january 1913 . 1921 an etymological dictionary of modern english by ernest weekley published 14 1958 john betjeman s collected poems published and has sold over 2 million copies to date 1967 last issue of the quarterly review published 1969 the first tv tie in kenneth clark s civilisation published 1975 ruth prawer jhabvala s heat and dust wins the man booker prize 1977 the greatest travel book of the twentieth century a time of gifts by patrick leigh fermor published 2002 john murray leaves family hands after seven generations 2002 peacemakers by margaret macmillan wins the samuel johnson prize the duff cooper prize and the hessell tiltman prize citation needed 2003 the first new acquisition since the company became part of hodder headline now hachette a million little pieces by james frey becomes a perennial and controversial bestseller 2004 rebirth of the john murray fiction list with neil jordan s shade 2005 beasts of no nation by uzodinma iweala wins john llewellyn rhys prize citation needed 2007 mister pip by lloyd jones becomes a global bestseller wins the commonwealth writers prize and is shortlisted for the man booker prize citation needed 2008 amitav ghosh launches his epic ibis trilogy with sea of poppies shortlisted for the man booker prize citation needed 2008 down river by john hart wins edgar award for best novel citation needed 2008 the secret life of words by henry hitchings wins the john llewellyn rhys prize 2009 the last child by john hart wins cwa ian fleming steel dagger itv thriller of the year award and the edgar award for best novel citation needed 2009 martyr by rory clements special mention in cwa ellis peters historical fiction award citation needed 2009 up in the air by walter kirn turned into a film starring george clooney 2010 revenger by rory clements wins cwa ellis peters historical fiction award 2010 film sarah s key starring kristin scott thomas released based on tatiana de rosnay s novel of the same name 2010 wait for me by deborah devonshire shortlisted for the british book awards biography of the year citation needed 2011 mistaken by neil jordan wins irish book of the year award citation needed 2012 icelight by aly monroe wins cwa ellis peters historical fiction award 15 2012 lloyd jones s mister pip adapted into a film starring hugh laurie 2012 patrick leigh fermor an adventure by artemis cooper shortlisted for the costa biography award the waterstone s book of the year award and the national book awards biography of the year citation needed film adaptations of john murray titles edit up in the air 2009 based on the novel by walter kirn starring george clooney and anna kendrick sarah s key 2010 based on the novel by tatiana de rosnay starring kristin scott thomas mister pip 2012 based on the novel by lloyd jones starring hugh laurie references edit zachs william 1998 . the first john murray and the late eighteenth century book trade . oxford oxford university press . p. 7 . isbn 0197261914 . john treadwell nichols 1812 printers and booksellers literary anecdotes of the eighteenth century 3 london printed for the author by nichols son and bentley oclc 1138961 belanger jacqueline ; peter garside ; anthony mandal ; sharon ragaz 4 jan 2003 . british fiction 1800 1829 a database of production and reception phase ii advertisements for novels in the star 1815 1824 . cardiff corvey reading the romantic text . issn 1471 5988 . retrieved 23 september 2011 . eisler benita . byron child of passion fool of fame page 3 . hershel parker herman melville a biography ; volume 1 1819 1851 baltimore and london johns hopkins university press 1996 392 482 84 508 10 . hachette uk 2008 . corporate history highlights . hachette uk . hachette uk . retrieved 23 september 2011 . stars back literary archive plans . bbc news . 24 april 2007 . retrieved 24 april 2007 . john murray archive unwrapped . scottish executive website . retrieved 25 april 2007 . about the john murray archive . national library of scotland . archived from the original on june 11 2007 . retrieved 25 april 2007 . john murray archive catalogue . national library of scotland . retrieved 27 april 2007 . pages from history . scotsman.com . retrieved 27 april 2007 . cunningham joseph davy 1849 . a history of the sikhs from the origin of the nation to the battles of the sutlej . john murray . narrative of an expedition to the zambesi and its tributaries ; and of the discovery of the lakes shirwa and nyassa . 1858 1864 pdf an etymological dictionary of modern english . archive.org . icelight the crime writers association . thecwa.co.uk . retrieved 2015 10 04 . further reading edit smiles samuel 1891 . a publisher and his friends memoir and correspondence of the late john