Robert Bowes (publisher)
Robert Bowes | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Invalid birth date for calculating age Stewarton, Scotland |
| Died | February 9, 1919 (aged 83) |
| Occupation(s) | Bookseller, publisher |
| Known for | A Catalogue of Books Printed at or relating to the University, Town & County of Cambridge, from 1521 to 1893 |
Robert Bowes (22 August 1835 – 9 February 1919) was a distinguished Scottish bookseller and publisher, renowned for his work A Catalogue of Books Printed at or relating to the University, Town & County of Cambridge, from 1521 to 1893 (1891–1894), which has been praised as "monumental and still unsuperseded".
Biography
Margaret Macmillan, Bowes's mother, was the sister of Daniel and Alexander MacMillan, the founders of Macmillan Publishers. Early on, Bowes joined his uncles’ Cambridge enterprise that integrated bookselling, publishing, printing, and stationery services. By 1851, he was undertaking an apprenticeship at their historic bookshop on Trinity Street, which had been in operation since 1581. The Macmillan company specialized in academic publications and achieved notable success with literary works such as Charles Kingsley’s Westward Ho! (1855) and Thomas Hughes’s Tom Brown's School Days (1857).
After Daniel Macmillan passed away in 1857, Bowes was appointed in 1858 to manage the firm's new London branch located at 23 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. During this time, Alexander Macmillan organized influential meetings with prominent authors including Alfred Tennyson and Herbert Spencer, which contributed to the establishment of Macmillan’s Magazine in 1859.
In 1863, Alexander Macmillan moved to London while Bowes returned to Cambridge to supervise the Trinity Street bookshop. Bowes married Fanny Brimley in 1868; she was the sister-in-law of Alexander Macmillan’s wife and related to literary critic George Brimley. The couple had three children: Mabel Ethel, Janet Mabel, and George Edmund.
By 1881, Bowes had become a full partner in the Trinity Street establishment, leading to its renaming as "Macmillan & Bowes". Among his publishing achievements was James Kenneth Stephen’s Lapsus Calami (1891). His son George Edmund Brimley Bowes entered the business in 1897 and attained partnership status in 1899. The firm adopted the name Bowes & Bowes in 1907. Following Robert Bowes's death in 1919, George Edmund took charge until the company's acquisition by W H Smith in 1953.
Robert Bowes held the presidency of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association in 1914; his son later assumed the same role in 1923.
The archives of Bowes & Bowes—which include early financial documents and catalogues—are maintained at the University of Reading.
Robert Bowes and several relatives are buried at Mill Road Cemetery in Cambridge.