Sons & Co William Collins 1819 - 1989

Collins was a Scottish printing company founded by William Collins and Charles Chalmers, in Glasgow, in 1819. After Collins' son had joined the firm, the company was renamed William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, in 1868. The firm began publishing fiction in 1917, under the stewardship of Sir Godfrey Collins, having previously only specialised in religious and educational works. Eventually the company became a diverse and prolific publisher, publishing a wide range of titles, including many aimed at a juvenile audience. In 1987, Collins was bought by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and subsequently joined together with the New York-based publisher Harper & Row, in 1987, they now trade under the name HarperCollins.