author
Henry Curwen
1845–1892
An English journalist and author who helped raise the standing of The Times of India, he also wrote novels, translations, and literary studies. His career moved from London publishing circles to Bombay journalism, giving his work an unusual mix of literary curiosity and newsroom experience.
1 Audiobook
A History of Booksellers, the Old and the New
by Henry Curwen
About the author
Born in 1845 at Workington Hall in Cumberland, he was educated at Rossall School and began his working life in London with the publisher John Camden Hotten. Early on he was involved with book compilation and literary work, which fits well with his later reputation as both a journalist and a man of letters.
In 1876 he moved to India to join The Times of India in Bombay as assistant editor, and in 1880 he became chief editor. Contemporary reference sources credit him with improving the paper's reputation, and later he became a proprietor of the newspaper as well. Alongside journalism, he published fiction and non-fiction, including A History of Booksellers and Sorrow and Song; Studies of Literary Struggle.
He died unmarried on February 22, 1892, while traveling home from Bombay aboard the P&O ship Ravenna, and was buried at sea. No suitable confirmed portrait image was found on the sources checked, so a profile image is not included here.