the book collector
We always realised that with mortgages to pay and children to ed- ucate, it was understandable that they should accept a higher o V er. We would say goodbye yet always remained friends. By the millennium I realised that it was time for us to sell the firm and I was determined that we should do this while it was enjoying success. By this time I had seen Gollancz, Deutsch and Dent and other medium-sized publishers with whom I had worked closely go under or be absorbed by the large conglomerates. Nick Perren, our brilliant managing director, shared with me the view that the days of the medium-sized independent publisher were clearly coming to an end and after over 234 years of independence (longer than any other publisher of our kind in the world) we decided we needed to find a good home for the imprint. Nick rightly assessed that Hodder was a firm that would benefit from Murray’s list and had the finances to support the imprint as an important part of their group. In 2002 he skilfully negotiated the take-over with Tim Hely Hutchinson, who promised to keep the Murray imprint and to cherish its reputation. Sixteen years after the sale, Murray’s remains a separate and thriving imprint and Hodder benefits from its remarkable history. The most di Y cult part of selling the firm for me was keeping the planned sale completely secret until it had taken place and I was not even able to breathe a word of it to members of our own family. Luckily I had the full support of my wife Virginia and my brother Hallam (the only two members of the family in the know). For weeks before the sale, we spent time writing over 1000 letters, signed personally by me, to authors, agents, booksellers, friends and colleagues and also the Press explaining why we had decided to sell. All the letters were posted on the same day, timed to arrive the day of the actual sale. It was heart warming that the response was so positive. Everyone appreciated why we were making this move and congratulated us for taking such a brave step. Luckily it was possible to retain 50 Albemarle Street in our family trust and we continue to work there and to welcome visitors as we have in the past. Hopefully this will continue for another two hundred years.
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