C. Kegan Paul & Co.

Born in 1828, Charles Kegan Paul moved through several careers before making his mark in publishing. He was educated at Eton and Exeter College, Oxford, served as an Anglican clergyman, and later turned increasingly toward writing, translation, and literary work.

In 1877 he took over the firm H. S. King & Company, which then traded as C. Kegan Paul & Co. Under his direction, the company continued publishing serious nonfiction and built a distinguished literary list associated with writers such as Alfred Tennyson, Thomas Hardy, George Meredith, and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Paul also wrote and translated books himself, so he stood at an interesting crossroads between author, editor, and publisher. That mix of practical publishing experience and literary ambition helped give his firm a lasting place in the story of Victorian books.