Bowes & Bowes

Bowes & Bowes was a bookselling and publishing company based in Cambridge, England.

1 Trinity Street, site of Bowes & Bowes, now Cambridge University Press

History

The firm was established by Robert Bowes (1835–1919), a nephew of Daniel Macmillan (1813–1857) — the founder, with his brother Alexander, in 1843, of a firm which by 1850 was a thriving bookshop with the official name ‘Macmillan & Co.’[1] The same bookshop was eventually owned by Alexander Macmillan in partnership with Robert Bowes. The company became known as ‘Bowes & Bowes’ only in 1907, George Brimley Bowes (1874-1946, Robert Bowes’ son) having become a partner in the business in 1899.[2] The firm continued as a family business until 1953 when it was acquired by W H Smith, who continued to operate it under the original name until 1986. In that year the business’s name was changed to Sherratt & Hughes.

The Bowes & Bowes site at 1, Trinity Street, Cambridge has a claim to be the oldest bookshop in the country, books having been sold there since 1581.[3] Since the closure of Sherratt & Hughes in 1992, the site has been the home of the Cambridge University Press bookshop.

The firm’s backlist included titles by Erich Heller, who was also the general editor of a series of books published by Bowes & Bowes (Studies in Modern European Literature and Thought, some of which were printed in the Netherlands).

Sherratt & Hughes

In 1898 John Sherratt and Joseph David Hughes opened a bookshop in Manchester. Sherratt was in charge of the printing and publishing, whilst Hughes was in charge of selling books.[4] In 1905 Sherratt & Hughes owned a bookshop at 27 St. Ann Street in Manchester and another shop at 65 Long Acre in London.[5] Before 1913 Sherratt & Hughes did printing and distribution for the University of Manchester and the Publications Committee of the University. Sherratt & Hughes was taken over by W H Smith in 1946; in April 1992 the subsidiary Sherratt & Hughes ceased to operate.[4]

See also

References
  1. The Macmillan brothers started their firm in 1843 as a bookshop in London. After a few months they moved their firm to a bookshop at 17 Trinity Street in Cambridge. After three years, they relocated to 1 Trinity Street. "Macmillan & Co. Ltd. Archive". Special Collections, University of Reading.
  2. "George Edmund Brimley Bowes (7 February 1874 – 7 December 1946)". Mill Road Cemetery. Parochial Burial Grounds Management Committee, Mill Road Cemetery, Cambridge. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  3. "History [of the Bookshop]". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  4. The shop in Manchester owned by Sherratt & Hughes from 1905 to 1992 was sold in 1992 to Waterstones and then closed in 1996. "Sherratt & Hughes Collection". Archives Hub (archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk).
    Ball, Graham (3 August 1996). "Bombed bookshop staff loses their jobs". The Independent.
  5. Hayes, Louis M. (1905). Reminiscences of Manchester and Some of its Local Surrounding from the Year 1840. Sherratt & Hughes.
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