author
Charles Knight
1791–1873
A lively champion of affordable reading, this nineteenth-century English publisher helped bring literature, history, and practical knowledge to a mass audience. He is especially remembered for popular educational projects that aimed to put good books and useful information within ordinary readers’ reach.
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About the author
Born in Windsor in 1791, he was the son of a bookseller and printer and learned the trade early. He went on to become an English publisher, editor, and author whose career was closely tied to the spread of inexpensive reading in Britain.
He is best known for publishing and contributing to works such as The Penny Magazine, The Penny Cyclopaedia, and The English Cyclopaedia. His work with popular educational publishing made him an important figure in the effort to share literature and general knowledge with a much wider public.
Knight also wrote extensively himself, and his long career reflected a practical belief that books should be accessible, engaging, and useful. He died in 1873, leaving behind a reputation as one of the key popularizers of reading and reference publishing in nineteenth-century England.