Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.

History[link]

This logo appeared in Leslie Stephen's biography of Alexander Pope, published by Macmillan & Co in 1880.

Macmillan was founded in 1843 by Daniel and Alexander Macmillan, two brothers from the Isle of Arran, Scotland. Daniel was the business brain, while Alexander laid the literary foundations, publishing such great authors as Charles Kingsley (1855), Thomas Hughes (1859), Francis Turner Palgrave (1861), Christina Rossetti (1862), Matthew Arnold (1865) and Lewis Carroll (1865). Alfred Tennyson joined the list in 1884, Thomas Hardy in 1886 and Rudyard Kipling in 1890.^[1]

As the company evolved, the brothers' vision continued to inspire the publishing of major writers including W.B. Yeats, Rabindranath Tagore, Sean O'Casey, John Maynard Keynes, Charles Morgan, Hugh Walpole, Margaret Mitchell, C. P. Snow, Rumer Godden and Ram Sharan Sharma.

Beyond literature, their vision led to the creation of such enduring titles as Nature (1869), the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1877) and Sir Robert Palgrave's Dictionary of Political Economy (1894–99).

Macmillan established an office in New York City. It sold its American division in 1896, which published as the Macmillan Company.

Macmillan Publishers re-entered the American market in 1954 under the name St. Martin's Press. After retiring from politics in 1964, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Harold Macmillan became chairman of the company, serving until his death in December 1986.^[2]

The company was one of the oldest independent publishing houses until 1995, when a 70% share of the company was bought by German media giant Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group (Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH). Holtzbrinck purchased the remaining shares in 1999, ending the Macmillan family's ownership of the company.

Since 2007 the CEO of Macmillan Publishers Ltd has been Annette Thomas.^[3][4]

Macmillan in the United States[link]

George Edward Brett opened the first Macmillan office in the United States in 1869 and Macmillan sold its U.S. operations to the Brett family, George Platt Brett, Sr. and George Platt Brett, Jr. in 1896, resulting in the creation of an American company, Macmillan Publishing, also called the Macmillan Company. Even with the split of the American company from its parent company in England, George Brett, Jr. and Harold Macmillan remained close personal friends.

George P. Brett, Jr. made the following comments in a letter dated 23 January 1947 to Daniel Macmillan about his family's devotion to the American publishing industry:

"For the record my grandfather was employed by Macmillan's of England as a salesman. He came to the United States with his family in the service of Macmillan's of England and built up a business of approximately $50,000 before he died. He was succeeded . . . by my father, who eventually incorporated The Macmillan Company of New York and built up business of about $9,000,000. I succeeded my father, and we currently doing a business of approximately $12,000,000. So then, the name of Brett and the name of Macmillan have been and are synonymous in the United States."

Pearson acquired the Macmillan name in America in 1998, following its purchase of the Simon & Schuster educational and professional group (which included various Macmillan properties).^[5] Holtzbrinck purchased it from them in 2001.^[6] McGraw-Hill continues to market its pre-kindergarten through elementary school titles under its Macmillan/McGraw-Hill brand. U.S. operations of Georg von Holtzbrinck are now known as Macmillan.

The current CEO of Macmillan U.S. is John Turner Sargent, Jr.

E-books[link]

By some estimates, as of 2009 e-books account for three to five per cent of total book sales, and are the fastest growing segment of the market.^[7] According to The New York Times, Macmillan and other major publishers "fear that massive discounting [of e-books] by retailers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Sony could ultimately devalue what consumers are willing to pay for books." In response, the publisher introduced a new boilerplate contract for its authors that established a royalty of 20 per cent of net proceeds on e-book sales, a rate five per cent lower than most other major publishers.^[7]

Following the announcement of the Apple iPad on January 27, 2010—a product that comes with access to the iBookstore—Macmillan gave Amazon.com two options: continue to sell e-books based on a price of the retailer's choice (the "wholesale model"), with the e-book edition released several months after the hardcover edition is released, or switch to the agency model introduced to the industry by Apple, in which both are released simultaneously and the price is set by the publisher. In the latter case, Amazon.com would receive a 30 per cent commission.^[8]

Amazon responded by pulling all Macmillan books, both electronic and physical, from their website (although affiliates selling the books were still listed). On January 31, 2010, Amazon chose the agency model and "capitulated" to the change demanded by Macmillan, in spite of Amazon's belief that the new model leads to e-book prices that are "needlessly high."^[9]

Divisions[link]

The company is made up of over 50 different divisions operating in five areas of publishing:

• Education publishing including English language teaching (as Macmillan Education)
• Academic publishing including reference (as Palgrave Macmillan)
• Science, technological and medical publishing (as Nature Publishing Group), including Nature and other journals
• Fiction and non-fiction book publishing (as Pan Macmillan), under the imprints Pan Books, Picador, Macmillan New Writing, Papermac, Kingfisher, Macmillan, Sidgwick & Jackson, Campbell Books, Boxtree, Ltd., and Macmillan Children's Books
• MPS Limited^[10] Provides publishing solutions from print and digital publishing solutions, to advert creation and magazine production, to fulfilment solutions for books and journals.
• Publishing Services through MPS Technologies^[11] offering Content Delivery, Web analytics, and Technology related services as well as distribution and production.

List of Public Domain works published by Macmillan and co.[link]

• John Henry Gray (1878). WILLIAM GOW GREGOR. ed. China: a history of the laws, manners, and customs of the people, Volume 2. VOL. II. LONDON : R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR. BREAD STREET HILL, E.C.: Macmillan and co.. http://books.google.com/books?id=QWcuAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved March 21 2012. London : MACMILLAN AND Co. 1878. [The Right of Translation is reserved.] Original from the University of California Digitized May 6, 2010
• John Henry Gray (1878). William Gow Gregor. ed. China, a history of the laws, manners and customs of the people, ed. by W.G. Gregor. VOL. I. LONDON : R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, BREAD STREET HILL. http://books.google.com/books?id=gaQBAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved March 21 2012. London MACMILLAN AND CO. 1878 [The Right of Translation and Reproduction is Reserved] Original from Oxford University Digitized Jul 7, 2006

See also[link]

• List of largest UK book publishers

References[link]

Additional resources[link]

• Macmillan – A Publishing Tradition by Elizabeth James ISBN 0-333-73517-X
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Macmillan". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

See also[link]

• The Big Six book publishers:
  • Hachette, Penguin Putnam, HarperCollins, Random House and Simon & Schuster^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official website of Macmillan/McGraw Hill
• The Macmillan Group from the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group website
• Official website of MPS Technologies
• MPS eServices formerly eMacmillan Software services

Ira Silverberg is an influential literary agent and editor in the New York publishing business. Silverberg worked as a literary agent at Donadio & Ashworth, as Editor-in-Chief at Grove/Atlantic Press, and as editorial and publishing director at Serpent's Tail's U.S. projects, High Risk Books and Midnight Classics. He also founded the marketing and public relations firm, Ira Silverberg Communications. This firm has attracted clients like The Academy of American Poets, William S. Burroughs, the estate of David Wojnarowicz, Dennis Cooper, City Lights Publications, and Re/Search Publications. He is currently an agent at Sterling Lord Literistic.

Silverberg co-edited two anthologies, High Risk (Dutton/Plume U.S.; Serpent's Tail U.K.) and High Risk 2 (Plume U.S.; Serpent's Tail U. K.), while working for Serpent's Tail. These two works were influential in defining the Downtown aesthetic.

Silverberg has become affiliated with many cultural institutions in New York City, including BOMB magazine and the Member's Council of PEN American Center. He has also acted as judge for the Gregory Kolovakos Award for AIDS writing and been a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts Literature Program and the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund. He has acted as editorial advisor to the Portable Lower East Side and has been a visiting faculty member at The New School for Social Research.^[1] Silverberg contributed the Serpent's Tail/High Risk Archives to the Fales Library of NYU.^[2]

Notes[link]

1. ^ The Fales Library Guide to the Ira Silverberg Papers
2. ^ The Fales Library Guide to the Serpent's Tail/High Risk Archives

Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson speaking at Hyde Park, London in 2010
Born	(1946-08-15) 15 August 1946 (age 65) Homerton, London, England
Occupation	Actor, comedian, political activist, TV presenter, historian
Spouse	Mary Shepherd (divorced) Louise Hobbs (2011-present)
Children	2

Tony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, comedian, historian, TV presenter and political activist. He is best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History. Robinson is a member of the Labour Party and has served on its National Executive Committee. He has also written 16 children's books.

Early life[link]

Born in Homerton in the London Borough of Hackney, London, Robinson attended the independent Woodford Green Preparatory School followed by Wanstead High School in what is now the London Borough of Redbridge. He performed in his first professional acting role at the age of 12, as a member of Fagin's gang in the original production of the musical Oliver!, including a stint as the Artful Dodger when the boy playing the role didn't turn up.^[1] Over the next five years, he appeared in a number of West End shows, in film and on television.

At school, Robinson passed four O-Levels (English Language, English Literature, History and Geography) and went on to study for A-Levels. However, he did not complete his A-Levels and decided to study at a drama school instead.^[1] Too young to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Robinson instead studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. After leaving, he spent four years in repertory theatre.^[2]

He won an Arts Council bursary to work as a director at the Midland Arts Centre, Birmingham and founded the Avon Touring Company, a Bristol-based community theatre company, with writer David Illingworth.^[2]

He played a small role as student doctor Grace in the 1972-73 series of Doctor In Charge.

He appeared in the 1974-75 season at Chichester Festival Theatre, as Angel Chicago in the nativity musical Follow The Star. In the 1975 season, he appeared as Hovstad in Henrik Ibsen's Enemy of the People. In 1976, he appeared as Feste in Twelfth Night, and as Majorin in Monsieur Perrichon's Travels.^[2]

In the early 1970s he starred in the children's educational programme Sam on Boffs' Island and was later a presenter on Play Away.^[3] He also appeared in the award-winning Horizon documentary Joey, and in the title role in the BBC production of The Miracle of Brother Humphrey. He also had a minor part in the film Brannigan starring John Wayne.^[2]

He was also one of the Who Dares Wins team in the Channel 4 comedy/satirical show in the early/mid-1980s.

[edit] Blackadder period (1983–1989)

Robinson came to prominence in 1983 for his role in the British historical sitcom Blackadder, as Edmund Blackadder's dogsbody Baldrick. In the first series, broadcast as The Black Adder, he was quite astute, while his master was an idiot. Later series (Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third, Blackadder Goes Forth) moved the duo through history and switched the relationship: the Edmund Blackadder of Blackadder II was a brilliant schemer, whereas Baldrick had devolved into a buffoon whose catchphrase was "I have a cunning plan" (which he rarely had).

In addition to his acting on Blackadder, he also wrote and narrated several Jackanory-style children's programmes, encouraged by Richard Curtis.^[4] Programmes in this style included Tales From Fat Tulip's Garden (continued in Fat Tulip Too), Odysseus: The Greatest Hero of Them All (a retelling of the Iliad and the Odyssey), and Blood and Honey (tales from the Old Testament, filmed on location).

[edit] After Blackadder (1989–present)

After Blackadder, Robinson became the narrator and one of the lead actors for the British animated series Nellie the Elephant, based on a song of the same name. The series ran from 1989 to 1991 and was shown on Children's ITV.

He also provided voice-over to the Free-ranger Chicken cartoon short, an English child-scripted arts-funded production in 1989. Now to be seen on YouTube.

Robinson also presented the early-Saturday evening series Stay Tooned for BBC 1, which featured a selection of classic Warner Brothers and MGM cartoons.

In 1989 he created the children's comedy TV series Maid Marian and her Merry Men, a loose retelling of the legend of Robin Hood in which he appeared as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Four series were broadcast on BBC1 during 1989–94.

In 1990 he appeared in Series 8, Episode 2 of Bergerac - "My Name’s Sergeant Bergerac".

Tony Robinson (left), Mick Aston and Guy de la Bédoyère on a Time Team shoot in 2007.

In 1994, Robinson began presenting Time Team, a TV programme devoted to archaeological investigations limited to three days (the outcome is never guaranteed, varying from spectacular to disappointing). In 2005, Exeter University conferred an Honorary Doctorate on Robinson, and Honorary Professorships on principal presenter Mick Aston and producer Tim Taylor, to reflect its great appreciation for what Time Team has done for the public understanding of archaeology in the UK.^[5] In the 2011 episode Hitler's Island Fortress, Robinson described himself as an amateur archaeologist.

Robinson was drafted to present other history-based shows on Channel 4, including The Worst Jobs in History, researching and re-enacting some of the more horrible jobs of the past millennium. He also took this show on tour around the country along with an autobiographical question and answer session. This first series was followed by The Worst Christmas Jobs in History in December 2005 and then a second series of The Worst Jobs in History on Channel 4 in April 2006.

In 1999, Robinson returned to star in a one-off Blackadder short film to celebrate the millennium, entitled Blackadder: Back & Forth. This short film was shown in the Millennium Dome throughout 2000 and was later aired on BBC One in 2002.

Robinson also contributed the voiceover for the TV series Airline in its set of new series from 1999 focusing on the daily routine of EasyJet staff at a selection of airports. The show was made for ITV and is often repeated today on Sky Real Lives, Sky 1, Sky 2, Sky 3 (now Pick TV) & ITV2. He worked as the narrator for six of the remaining nine series until 2006 when the series ended.

Tony Robinson's Cunning Night Out, a largely improvised stage show, followed in early 2005 and included a mix of the many themes from his career for which Robinson is famous. He also edited and presented The Real Da Vinci Code, a documentary for Channel 4's Weird World series which countered the claims made by Dan Brown in his novel The Da Vinci Code.

In addition to telling his own stories, Robinson narrated the abridged audio book versions of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. Nigel Planer, Celia Imrie and Stephen Briggs narrated the unabridged versions. He also provided the voicing for several characters in the videogame Discworld. He followed on this Discworld work by playing a role in the live action television dramatisation of Hogfather, broadcast on Sky over the Christmas season in 2006.

Robinson also presented Classic FM's Friendly Guide to Classical Music which aired on a Sunday at 4 pm. The whole 16-episode series was repeated on 26 December 2006. He revealed on the BBC Radio 2 feature "Tracks of My Years" that his favourite songs are: "I Can Help" by Billy Swan, "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis, "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol, "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera, "Unfinished Sympathy" by Massive Attack, "Tangled Up In Blue" by Bob Dylan, "Shoulda Woulda Coulda" by Beverley Knight, "This Woman's Work" by Maxwell, "He's So Fine" by The Chiffons and "Falling Slowly" by The Frames.

In 2007, Robinson narrated television advertisements for Honda, in the humorous style of Tales From Fat Tulip's Garden. The advertisements feature plastic cars with expressive faces (similar to Thomas the Tank Engine). He has also done voiceovers for laundry product Vanish as of 2007.

Recently he discovered his Jewish ancestry through his grandmother's surname, Levy.^[6] The annual event, Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE also revealed his ancestry to him live on stage at the 2008 event. Robinson's most recent presenting jobs were Channel 4's, Tony Robinson's Crime and Punishment and Catastrophe. He is currently presenting a 4-part Channel 4 series entitled Man on Earth, focusing on humanity's struggle with climate change in the past 200,000 years.

Tony Robinson and the Paranormal was first broadcast on Channel 4 in December 2008. In this series, Robinson investigates paranormal phenomena combining the fields of archaeology, parapsychology, history and spiritualism to investigate paranormal evidence.

In July 2009, he appeared in the light-hearted BBC1 series Hotel Babylon as sly hit-man named Arthur Barnes. The character is knocked unconscious by a flying bottle expertly lobbed by the female hotel manager during a showdown in the lobby.^[7] In February 2010 Robinson, described as the 'stunt Pratchett', read the main part of Terry Pratchett's BBC Richard Dimbleby Lecture.

From 1 September 2010, Robinson hosted a new series on National Geographic Channel called Birth of Britain which was repeated on Channel 4 beginning in January 2011.^[8]

A forthcoming television series, with the expected title of Tony Robinson Explores Australia, is scheduled to be broadcast in the first half of 2012. Filmed in High Definition, the series is expected to roughly follow a chronology from the earliest sightings of Terra Australis Incognita through to the present with each era defined by a theme rather than equal blocks of time.

On 4 November 2011, Robinson received an honorary doctorate from the University of Chester for his contribution to fostering the public understanding of archaeology and national heritage.

DVD and live tour[link]

In the spring of 2007 Robinson visited 30 towns in Britain and Ireland with his one-man show, A Cunning Night Out. The show was released on DVD in the autumn of 2007.

Politics and personal life[link]

Robinson and his former wife Mary Shepherd were active in Bristol Labour politics from the early 1980s.

From 1996 to 2000, he was vice-president of the actors' union Equity, helping with a huge restructuring programme which turned a £500,000 deficit into a small surplus.^[9] He continues to work within Equity. In 2000 he was elected to the Labour Party's National Executive Committee, a position he held to 2004.^[4]

He was also active in the "Make Poverty History" campaign during early 2005, in the lead-up to the G8 summit in Scotland, and is the patron for UK-based charity Street Child Africa.

In March 2011, Robinson participated in the 'March for the Alternative' protests in Central London, which opposed the Conservative led Coalition UK Government's spending cuts programme.^[10]

In 2006 he appeared in Tony Robinson: Me and My Mum, a documentary surrounding Robinson's decision to find a nursing home for his mother, and the difficulty he had with doing so. The documentary showed his mother's death in the home. It also featured stories from other families in similar situations. It appeared as part of Channel 4's short season of programmes entitled The Trouble With Old People.

He previously supported the football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City, but now supports Championship side Bristol City.^[11] He also follows Spanish Liga BBVA side Valencia, often spending his holidays in the country.^[12]

He is honorary president of the Young Archaeologists' Club of the Council for British Archaeology.^[13]

He is a big fan of the rock band Genesis and provided sleeve notes for the reissue of the album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway as part of the Genesis 1970–1975 box set.^[14]

In late 2009 he was invited to be guest speaker at the Pride of Craegmoor Awards, where he gave a speech about his time with his mother and finding a care home. He then went on to give the prizes to Craegmoor's Shining Star and Leading Light.

Robinson has shown his support for the Burma Campaign UK, an NGO that aims to highlight human rights violations in Burma under the State Peace and Development Council.

Robinson married Louise Hobbs on 24 June 2011.^[15]

Awards[link]

In 1999 he was awarded an honorary Master of Arts by the University of Bristol for his services to drama and archaeology.

In 2002 he was awarded an honorary Master of Arts by the University of East London.^[16]

In 2005 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Open University for his contribution to the educational or cultural well-being of society^[17] and an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Exeter for his active involvement in politics.^[18]

In 2006 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Oxford Brookes University.^[19]

In September 2008, he was awarded the James Joyce Award by the Literary and Historical Society of UCD.

In November 2011, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by University of Chester.^[20]

Selected filmography[link]

• Brannigan (1975) – Messenger
• Blackadder (1983–1989, 1999) – Baldrick
• The Young Ones (1984–Episode entitled "Bambi") – Dr. Not-The-Nine-O'clock-News
• Maid Marian and her Merry Men (1989–1994) – Sheriff of Nottingham & creator/writer
• The Neverending Story III (1994) – Engywook (male gnome)
• Blood and Honey (1991) – Presenter (Storyteller)
• My Wonderful Life (1997–1999) – Alan
• Faeries (1999) – Broom (voice)
• Time Team (1994–present) – Presenter
• Romans (documentary) (2003) – Presenter
• Britain's Real Monarch (2004) – Presenter
• Spider-Plant Man (2005) - Robin
• Codex (2006–present) – Presenter
• Terry Pratchett's Hogfather (2006) – Vernon Crumley
• The Doomsday Code (documentary) (2008) – Presenter
• Catastrophe (2008) – Presenter
• Big Top (2009)
• Airline (UK TV series) – Narrator
• Hotel Babylon – Arthur – Series 4, Episode 3(2009)
• Jam TV (2009) – Himself, Episode 5
• Man on Earth (2009) – Presenter
• Codex (2011–present) – Presenter (Tuesday Morning Channel 4 and 4 HD)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Tony Robinson at the Internet Movie Database
• Tony Robinson presents the Birth of Britain on National Geographic Channel – starts 1 September 2010
• The Unofficial website for Tony Robinson
• The Unofficial website for Time Team
• "Tony Robinson's cunning plan" – BBC News article dated Friday 26 May 2000
• Tony Robinson – Interviews in Sherwood
• "The Worst Jobs in History" (2004) Television Series
• "The Worst Christmas Jobs in History" (December 2005)
• "The Worst Children's Jobs in History" Interview about book (November 2005)
• "Time Team" – Television series.
• Classic FM Friendly Guide to Classical Music Started September 2006
• Tony Robinson presents on Classic FM
• [1] – Tony Robinson Explores Australia