Richard Bentley (publisher)

In February 1831 the firm also began publishing one-volume versions of novels that had previously been available only in three-decker form. They published novels whose copyright they owned and bought up the copyright to other novels. Colburn and Bentley's "Standard Novels series" became "a landmark in nineteenth-century publishing".[5] Because each volume was only six shillings instead of a guinea and a half (i.e. 31s 6d), novels were suddenly available to a much wider audience than previously. Furthermore, the firm owned the copyright to the novels, making the profits of the enterprise entirely theirs.[5] James Fenimore Cooper's The Pilot was the first novel in the series.[5] The two publishers solicited revisions from living authors, sometimes forcing them to shorten their works so that they would fit into a single volume.[6] Colburn and Bentley published the first 19 volumes together. The series would eventually be published over 24 years and include 126 volumes.[6] These included "the first inexpensive reprints of Jane Austen's fiction" and many American titles.[2] The series was extraordinarily successful. In its first year, it made the firm £1,160.[6]

By 1831, the partnership between Bentley and Colburn was fraying. The cost of buying copyrights was mounting and the firm was in financial chaos. By early 1832, Bentley and Colburn were no longer speaking to each other and their dispute had to be mediated by lawyers and clerks.[6] On 1 September 1832, Bentley and Colburn signed a settlement in which Bentley agreed to buy the firm for £1,500, keep the office on New Burlington Street, and rename the business "Richard Bentley". He paid Colburn £5,580 for materials and copyrights owned by the firm, including the Standard Novels series.[2][6] Colburn agreed to a series of restrictions on his publications, an agreement which he violated almost immediately.[6] The partnership was officially dissolved with effect from 31 August 1832.[7]

Bentley's Miscellany, second edition of March 1837

1838 Poster advertisement for Memoirs of Grimaldi, originally by Joseph Grimaldi but heavily revised by Dickens, under his regular nom de plume, "Boz", and published by Bentley

In October 1836, Bentley entered the periodical market. He founded Bentley's Miscellany, which first appeared in January 1837, and selected Charles Dickens, known at the time for his Pickwick Papers, as editor.[10] Dickens also agreed to contribute a serialised novel to the periodical and to sell two novels to Bentley. The periodical was "an immediate success" – 11,000 copies were sold in 1837 – largely as a result of the serialisation of Dickens's Oliver Twist, illustrated by George Cruikshank.[10] Dickens became increasingly frustrated at the initial terms of his contract, which he felt paid him too little. He eventually negotiated an increase to his editorial salary from £40 per month (£20 to edit and 20 guineas to write an article[2]) to £1,000 per year, including additional payments for his novels. The two renegotiated the contract nine times.[10] As Wallins explains, "Through nearly four years of negotiations Bentley remained calm in public; privately, he railed against Dickens's constant complaints but then backed down, delayed deadlines, and provided his author with more money as it was demanded. Bentley recognized that an unhappy author was an unproductive author."[10] In the end, Dickens paid Bentley £2,250 to buy out the rest of his contract and to purchase the copyright to Oliver Twist.[10]

Ainsworth succeeded Dickens as editor. Under his guidance, the circulation of the periodical "decreased dramatically" and costs increased. Among the contributors during this period was the novelist and traveller Isabella Frances Romer. The quality of the novels declined and the number of reviews rose.[13] During the 1840s and 1850s, Bentley used the periodical primarily to puff his own publications. American literature was highlighted, including Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1840).[12]

Around 1843, the book trade fell off significantly in England. For the next 20 years, Bentley struggled to keep his firm afloat amidst increasing competition, legal problems, and poor business choices.[14] For example, he started a sixpenny newspaper, Young England, that ended after fourteen issues. Other firms introduced series similar to the Standard Novels series, but cheaper. Bentley tried to compete by publishing two new, cheap series – Bentley's Shilling Series and the Parlour Bookcase – but these were not very successful. Neither had over 25 volumes whereas the competition had almost 300.[14] In 1853, Bentley tried to reduce the price of some of his books to increase the number sold, but this tactic failed.[14] Bentley finally resorted to selling copyrights and large numbers of remaindered books to pay his debts. In 1853, as the economy worsened as a result of the Crimean War, he was forced to sell Bentley's Miscellany to its editor, Ainsworth.[14] By 1855, Bentley's finances were in such dire straits that his firm was in danger of failing.[15] In 1857 Bentley auctioned off copyrights, plates, steel etchings and remainders to pay debts.[2]

Changes in copyright law also affected Bentley's firm. Decades earlier, he had bought the English copyright for many American novels and made steady profits from the publication of these works. However, in 1849, all rights to foreign copyrights were extinguished, and other firms began to publish cheap editions of the works Bentley had paid to publish. In 1851, the Lords' decision was reversed, but by then Bentley had lost approximately £17,000.[2][15]

George Bentley joined his father's firm in 1845, but he did not become an active partner until the 1850s.[16]

As the firm became financially stable again, Bentley began more projects. In 1859, Bentley attempted to establish Bentley's Quarterly Review as a competitor to the Edinburgh Review and the Quarterly Review. As editors, he signed on John Douglas Cook, William Scott and Robert Cecil. The first issue appeared in February, but it did not sell well, despite being well received by critics. Only four issues were published.[15] Patten describes Bentley as "slow and imitative of other publishers", with "a strong bourgeois streak that prompted him to stand upon his proprietorial and editorial dignity, even when he lost contributors through his stubbornness", and describes his launch of the review as an "overreaching" that is typical of him.[2]

The firm slowly became successful again. From June 1859 to May 1860, Bentley published a series of "Tales from Bentley" that reprinted stories from Bentley's Miscellany, which was a success. The publication of Ellen Wood's East Lynne (1861), which sold out four editions in six months, helped dramatically. After 20 years, the book had sold 110,250 copies.[15]

In January 1866 Bentley purchased Temple Bar Magazine; his son, George, became the editor, a position which he held until 1895.[16] Two years later, Ainsworth ran into financial trouble with Bentley's Miscellany and the Bentleys bought it back for £250. They merged it with Temple Bar, bringing together what Wallins calls "perhaps the finest roster of contributors to any periodical at the time", which included Anthony Trollope, Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, George Gissing and Robert Louis Stevenson.[16]