Ajay Kumar at 20:58, 30 August 2023

2023-08-30T20:58:34Z

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{{short description|British publishing house}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2013}}
{{Infobox publisher
| name = Faber and Faber
| image = [[File:Faber and Faber logo.jpg|100px]]
| parent =
| status =
| founded = {{start date and age|1929}}
| founder = [[Geoffrey Faber]]
| successor =
| country = [[United Kingdom]]
| headquarters = [[London, England]]
| distribution = [[The Book Service]] (UK)<br/>[[Allen & Unwin]] (Australia)<br/>[[Publishers Group West]] (US)
| keypeople =
| publications = Books
| topics =
| genre =
| imprints =
| revenue =
| numemployees =
| nasdaq =
| url = {{URL|http://faber.co.uk}}
}}

'''Faber and Faber Limited''', usually abbreviated to '''Faber''', is an independent publishing house in [[London]]. Published authors and poets include [[T. S. Eliot]] (an early Faber editor and director), [[W. H. Auden]], [[Margaret Storey (children's writer)|Margaret Storey]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Publication Series: Faber Fanfares |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pubseries.cgi?1370 |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=www.isfdb.org}}</ref> [[William Golding]], [[Samuel Beckett]], [[Philip Larkin]], [[Ted Hughes]], [[Seamus Heaney]], [[Paul Muldoon]], [[Milan Kundera]] and [[Kazuo Ishiguro]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Dwight |last=Garner|title=Two New Books Have Anglophiles and Bibliophiles Covered|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/books/review-human-relations-other-difficulties-mary-kay-wilmers-faber-faber-toby-faber.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=23 August 2019}}</ref>

Founded in 1929, in 2006 the company was named the [[KPMG]] Publisher of the Year.<ref>{{cite web|title=Awards & Prizes|url=http://www.faber.co.uk/about/awards-prizes-list/|website=Faber and Faber|publisher=Faber and Faber|access-date=25 July 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808052533/http://www.faber.co.uk/about/awards-prizes-list/|archive-date=8 August 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

'''Faber and Faber Inc.''', formerly the American branch of the London company, was sold in 1998 to the [[Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group|Holtzbrinck]] company [[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]] (FSG). Faber and Faber ended the partnership with FSG in 2015 and began distributing its books directly in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Faber & Faber Teams With Perseus to Enter U.S. Market Directly|website=Galley Cat|first=Dianna|last= Dilworth|date=10 April 2015| access-date = 2017-12-11| url = http://adweek.it/1D3XnQZ}}</ref>

==History==
Faber and Faber began as a firm in 1929, but originated in the Scientific Press, owned by [[Maurice Gwyer|Sir Maurice and Lady Gwyer]]. The Scientific Press derived much of its income from the weekly magazine ''The Nursing Mirror.'' The Gwyers' desire to expand into trade publishing led them to [[Geoffrey Faber]], a fellow of [[All Souls College, Oxford]]; they founded '''Faber and Gwyer''' in 1925. After four years, ''The Nursing Mirror'' was sold and Geoffrey Faber and the Gwyers agreed to go their separate ways. Faber selected the company name of Faber and Faber, although there was no other Faber involved.<ref>Toby Faber, ''Faber & Faber: The Untold Story'' (2019),</ref>

T. S. Eliot, who had been suggested to Faber by [[Charles Whibley]],<ref name="RK">{{cite book|last1= Kojecky|first1= Roger |title= T. S. Eliot's Social Criticism|url= https://archive.org/details/tseliotssocialcr00koje/page/55 |year= 1972 |publisher= Faber & Faber |isbn= 0571096921 |page= [https://archive.org/details/tseliotssocialcr00koje/page/55 55] |url-access= registration}}</ref> had left Lloyds Bank in London to join Faber as a literary adviser; in the first season, the firm issued his ''Poems 1909–1925''. In addition, the catalogues from the early years included books by [[Ezra Pound]], [[Jean Cocteau]], [[Herbert Read]], [[Max Eastman]], [[George Rylands]], [[John Dover Wilson]], [[Geoffrey Keynes]], [[Forrest Reid]], [[Charles Williams (UK writer)|Charles Williams]], and [[Vita Sackville-West]]. In 1928, Faber and Faber published its first commercial success, ''[[Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man]]''. The book was at first published anonymously; the author's name, [[Siegfried Sassoon]], was added to the title page for the second impression. Over the next six months, it was reprinted eight times.

===Role in publishing===
Poetry was originally the most renowned part of the Faber list, with [[W. H. Auden]], [[Stephen Spender]], and [[Louis MacNeice]] joining [[Ezra Pound]], [[Marianne Moore]], [[Wyndham Lewis]], [[John Gould Fletcher]], [[Roy Campbell (poet)|Roy Campbell]], [[James Joyce]], [[David Jones (artist-poet)]] and [[Walter de la Mare]] being published under T. S. Eliot's aegis.<ref name="auto">Faber, ''Faber & Faber: The Untold Story'' (2019).</ref>

Under Geoffrey Faber's chairmanship, the board in 1929 included Eliot, Richard de la Mare, Charles Stewart, and [[Frank Vigor Morley]]. The firm's art director was [[Berthold Wolpe]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=James|last=Pardey|url=https://www.creativereview.co.uk/wolpe-albertus-and-fabers-classic-covers/|title=Wolpe, Albertus and Faber's Classic Covers|journal=[[Creative Review]]|date=December 2011}}</ref> Faber published biographies, [[memoir]]s, fiction, poetry, political and religious essays, art and architecture monographs, [[children's books]], and an ecology list. It also published Eliot's literary review, ''[[The Criterion]]''. Eliot rejected two books by [[George Orwell]], ''A Scullion's Diary'' (the original version of ''[[Down and Out in Paris and London]]'') and ''[[Animal Farm]]''.<ref name="auto"/>

During the Second World War, paper shortages resulted in high profits, but much of this profit went to taxation.

Notable postwar Faber writers include [[William Golding]] (although the company almost rejected his ''[[Lord of the Flies]]''),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/28/faber-and-faber-the-untold-story-letters-eliot-joyce-beckett-plath-larkin|title=Lord of the Flies? 'Rubbish'. Animal Farm? Too risky – Faber's secrets revealed|last=Faber|first=Toby|date=2019-04-28|newspaper=[[The Observer]]|location=London|access-date=2019-04-28}}</ref> [[Lawrence Durrell]], [[Robert Lowell]], [[Ted Hughes]], [[Sylvia Plath]], [[W. S. Graham]], [[Philip Larkin]], [[P. D. James]], [[Tom Stoppard]], and [[John Osborne]]. The firm increased its investment in contemporary drama, including plays by three Nobel Laureates: [[Harold Pinter]], [[Samuel Beckett]], and [[T. S. Eliot]]. Other playwrights subsequently joined Faber, including [[Alan Ayckbourn]], [[Alan Bennett]], [[Brian Friel]], [[Tony Harrison]], [[David Hare (playwright)|David Hare]], [[Frank McGuinness]], and [[Timberlake Wertenbaker]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/content-partners|title=Content Partners|work=Drama Online|access-date=2019-04-19}}</ref>

===Today===
Modern writers such as [[Kazuo Ishiguro]], [[Peter Carey (novelist)|Peter Carey]], [[Orhan Pamuk]], and [[Barbara Kingsolver]] also joined Faber. In addition, Faber has published the translated work of prominent novelists and poets including [[Milan Kundera]], [[Thomas Bernhard]], [[Günter Grass]], [[Nikos Kazantzakis]], [[Wisława Szymborska]], [[Mario Vargas Llosa]], and [[Czesław Miłosz]]. Having published the theatrical works of Samuel Beckett for several years, the company acquired the rights to the remainder of his oeuvre from the publishing house of [[John Calder]] in 2007. Faber announced in October 2011 that [[Jarvis Cocker]], lead singer of the band [[Pulp (band)|Pulp]], would be joining as editor-at-large, an appointment similar to one held by [[Pete Townshend]] of [[The Who]] in the 1980s.<ref name="auto"/>

In 2008, the imprint Faber Finds was set up to make copyrighted [[out-of-print book]]s reavailable, using [[print-on-demand]] technology.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/may/02/ebooks.technology |title=Faber Launches Print-on-Demand Classics |author=Dammann, Guy |date=2 May 2008 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=4 March 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3673803/Faber-Finds-your-own-private-printing-press.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3673803/Faber-Finds-your-own-private-printing-press.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Faber Finds: Your Own Private Printing Press |author=Page, Stephen |date=31 May 2008 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |access-date=4 March 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Works republished in the imprint have included items from the [[Mass-Observation]] archives, and works by [[John Betjeman]], [[Angus Wilson]], [[A. J. P. Taylor]], [[H. G. Wells]], [[Joyce Cary]], [[Nina Bawden]], [[Jean Genet]], [[P. H. Newby]], [[Louis MacNeice]], [[John Carey (critic)|John Carey]], [[F. R. Leavis]], [[Jacob Bronowski]], [[Jan Morris]], and [[Brian Aldiss]]. In 2009, Faber Finds began to release [[e-book]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebookseller.com/news/90007-faber-finds-branches-into-e-books-for-anniversary.html |title=Faber Finds branches into e-books for anniversary |author=Neilan, Catherine |date=30 June 2009 |publisher=TheBookseller.com |access-date=4 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926132724/http://www.thebookseller.com/news/90007-faber-finds-branches-into-e-books-for-anniversary.html |archive-date=26 September 2009 |df=dmy }}</ref>

Faber's American arm was sold in 1998 to [[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]] ("FSG"), where it remained as an imprint focused on arts, entertainment, media, and popular culture. In February 2015, Faber announced the end of its partnership with FSG.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Farrington|first1=Joshua|title=Faber ends FSG partnership|url=http://www.thebookseller.com/news/faber-ends-fsg-partnership|website=[[The Bookseller]]|publisher=|date=18 February 2015|access-date=19 July 2015}}</ref>

In June 2012, to coincide with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, Faber launched a website – [https://web.archive.org/web/20120604025300/http://thespace.org/items/s00007p8 Sixty Years in Sixty Poems]. Commissioned for [http://thespace.org/#./?&_suid=1338996569811050252672328243 The Space] – the new digital arts platform developed by the Arts Council in partnership with the BBC – Sixty Years in Sixty Poems took the poems from Poet Laureate [[Carol Ann Duffy]]'s anthology, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120608140653/http://www.faber.co.uk/work/jubilee-lines/9780571277056/ Jubilee Lines], and interpreted them using actors' recordings, sound-based generative design, and archive film footage.

==Faber Academy==
In 2008, Faber launched Faber Academy, a creative writing business offering courses for aspiring writers. Courses include "Writing a Novel", "Advanced Poetry", and "Getting Started: Beginners' Fiction". At times, courses are tutored by famous writers, such as [[Mike Figgis]], [[Jeanette Winterson]], and [[Tobias Hill]]. Notable students have included [[S. J. Watson]] and Georgian/British singer-songwriter [[Katie Melua]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lanham |first1=Tom |title=Katie Melua: Finding Inspiration from Flannery O' Connor to Cole Porter |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/katie-melua/katie-melua-interview-album-no-8/ |website=Paste Magazine |access-date=16 January 2023 |date=16 October 2020}}</ref>

In 2018, The Faber Academy started offering a scholarship to two writers every year, with a focus on under-represented groups such as writers of colour, disabled writers and [[LGBT|LGBTQ]]+ writers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.faberacademy.co.uk/news/2017/12/faber-academy-scholarship/|title=The Faber Academy Scholarship|first=Faber|last=Academy|date=1 December 2017|website=Faber Academy News & Features|access-date=19 April 2019}}</ref>

==Faber Digital==
Faber Digital was launched in 2009. It has published a number of book-related apps for the iPhone and the iPad, including [http://malcolmtuckerapp.com/ Malcolm Tucker: The Missing Phone] (which was nominated for a [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA]] award), [http://theqiapp.com/ QI: Quite Interesting], [https://web.archive.org/web/20111019090316/http://harryhillsjokebookapp.com/ Harry Hill's Joke Book], and [https://web.archive.org/web/20110614201215/http://thewastelandforipad.com/ The Waste Land for iPad app]. The Waste Land for iPad app was Faber's second collaboration with Touch Press, following the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110612024437/http://www.touchpress.com/titles/solarsystem/ Solar System for iPad], which won the Futurebook Award for Digital innovation at the Book Industry Awards in 2011. In 2013, in partnership with [[Bloomsbury Publishing plc]], Faber Digital launched Drama Online, a subscription-based digital content platform for libraries, educators, students, and researchers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/about|title=about - Drama Online|website=www.dramaonlinelibrary.com|access-date=19 April 2019}}</ref>

==Faber Factory==
Faber (in partnership with the [[Perseus Books Group]] in the US) introduced [https://web.archive.org/web/20111012083005/http://www.faber.co.uk/about/faber-perseus-constellation-announcement/ The Faber Factory] in 2011, a digitisation service. In 2015 Faber announced its closure.<ref name="Campbell">{{cite web |last1=Campbell |first1=Lisa |title=Closure of Faber Factory Plus 'blow' for publishers |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/closure-faber-factory-plus-blow-publishers-316510#:~:text=difficult%20year...-,Faber%20is%20closing%20its%20Faber%20Factory%20Plus%20sales%20service%20for,and%20Pushkin%20Press%2C%20among%20others. |website=The Bookseller |date=13 November 2015|access-date=12 June 2021}}</ref>

==Location==
The firm's original location was its [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] offices at 24 [[Russell Square]], in [[Bloomsbury]], London. Faber later moved to 3 [[Queen Square, London]], and on 19 January 2009 the firm moved to Bloomsbury House, 74–77 [[Great Russell Street]], London.

==Nobel Laureate authors published by Faber==
* 1948: [[T. S. Eliot]]
* 1960: [[Saint-John Perse]]
* 1969: [[Samuel Beckett]]
* 1980: [[Czesław Miłosz]]
* 1983: [[William Golding]]
* 1992: [[Derek Walcott]]
* 1995: [[Seamus Heaney]]
* 1996: [[Wisława Szymborska]]
* 1999: [[Günter Grass]]
* 2005: [[Harold Pinter]]
* 2006: [[Orhan Pamuk]]
* 2010: [[Mario Vargas Llosa]]
* 2017: [[Kazuo Ishiguro]]

==See also==
{{Portal|Children's literature}}
* [[List of largest UK book publishers]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Toby Faber, ''Faber & Faber: The Untold Story'', Faber & Faber, 2019.

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.faber.co.uk/|Faber and Faber - official website}}
*[https://www.faberacademy.co.uk/ Faber Academy: Creative Writing with Faber and Faber]
*[https://archive.metromod.net/viewer.p/69/1470/object/5145-11267251 Entry about Faber&Faber in METROMOD archive] by Burcu Dogramaci
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[[Category:Book publishing companies based in London]]
[[Category:British companies established in 1929]]
[[Category:Literary publishing companies]]
[[Category:Poetry publishers]]
[[Category:Privately held companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Publishing companies established in 1929]]

Faber and Faber - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 20:58, 30 August 2023