Algernon Methuen

Sir Algernon Methuen Marshall, 1st Baronet (1856-1924, born in London as Algernon Stedman), was an English publisher and teacher of Classics and French. He is best known for founding the publisher Methuen & Co. (later Methuen Publishing Ltd.).

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Family

He was born on 23rd February 1856, the third son of J.B Stedman F.R.C.S.

Educated at Berkhamsted School and then Wadham College, Oxford from which he graduated with a M.A. In 1884 he married a daughter of Edwin Bedford.

Methuen was an outspoken critic of the Boer War.

He stood for Parliament as the Liberal party candidate for the seat of Guildford in the General Election of January 1910. The seat was a safe Conservative seat and he was unsuccessful.[1]

In 1916, he was created a baronet and later published his own memoir.[2][3][4][5][6]

Career

After graduating from Oxford he entered teaching and rose to be head of High Croft Preparatory School at Milford from 1890 to 1895.[7] While teaching he began as a sideline, writing a number of school text books under the non-de-plume A.W.S Methuen of which his series of French, Greek and Latin readers were best known. Among his works were books on gardening and current affairs.

In June1889, as a sideline to teaching, Methuen began to publish and market his own textbooks under the label Methuen & Co. (later Methuen Publishing Ltd.). Two months later he formally adopted Methuen as his surname. [8]

His first success at publishing came in 1892 with the publication of Rudyard Kipling's Barrack-Room Ballads. He later published works by Hilaire Belloc, Robert Lewis Stevenson, and Oscar Wilde.

References

  1. ^ Obituary of Sir Algernon Methuen The Times, Monday, 22 September 1924; page 18. Issue 43763.
  2. ^ [1] Cambridge University "Janus"
  3. ^ Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol. 68
  4. ^ [2]Sir Algernon Methuen, Baronet, A Memoir, London Methuen & Co. 1925
  5. ^ [3] The Hilltop Writers: A Victorian Colony among the Surrey Hills
  6. ^ [4] The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, New York Public Library
  7. ^ Obituary of Sir Algernon Methuen The Times, Monday, 22 September 1924; page 18. Issue 43763.
  8. ^ Obituary of Sir Algernon Methuen The Times, Monday, 22 September 1924; page 18. Issue 43763.

Further Reading