Gay & Hancock Ltd. (London, UK)
Series dates: 1910-1927
Size: 5″ x 7.25″
Updated 8/4/2024
Gay & Hancock Ltd. was a relatively short-lived (1908-1928) publisher focused on publishing and distributing U.S. books and periodicals in the UK. The firm originated in Gay & Bird Ltd., founded in 1891 in London with the same distribution and publishing focus. An array of literary, travel, nature, and spiritualism books were also published.
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The dissolving of the partnership between S.B. Walter Gay and Arthur F. Bird in 1906. The firm would continue as Gay & Bird Ltd. until 1908, when it became Gay and Hancock Ltd. Publishers’ Weekly, July 28, 1906. |
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The partnership of S.B. Walter Gay and Reginald N. Hancock as Gay and Hancock, Ltd. Entry in the Literary Yearbook for 1909. I cannot find any additional information about Reginald N. Hancock. |
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Advertisement (left) in T.P.’s Weekly (April 10, 1908) shows the transformation from Gay & Bird Ltd. to Gay and Hancock Ltd. Publications by Gay & Bird ended, for the most part, in 1908 (with a few stray publications in 1909 and 1910). |
| Arthur F. Bird continues in the business of importing U.S. titles. From the Publishers’ Circular, Feb. 8, 1913. Arthur F. Bird maintained a bookstore specializing in American books through the 1950s. Advertisements for his firm appear in the Times Literary Supplement as late as 1955. |  |
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The significant sales of titles by American poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox were central to Gay & Hancock’s firm. One of the numerous advertisements for Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s poems, this one taken from the Publishers’ Circular, November 8, 1919. |
The last year Gay & Hancock publications were issued (according to WorldCat) was 1928. Sales of Ella Wheeler Wilcox titles likely buoyed Gay & Hancock Ltd, and sales waned after she died in 1919. That may have led to the firm’s demise in the late 1920s.
Gay & Hancock had several book series, one of which, The Bibelots, began while the firm was named Gay & Bird Ltd.:
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The Bibelots Series. From The Bookman, Christmas 1908 issue. Titles in WorldCat from 1899 to 1910, thus the series was issued by Gay & Bird Ltd. (1899-1907) and Gay and Hancock Ltd. (1908-1910). |
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The 21 titles in The Bibelots series. The Times Literary Supplement, Dec. 11, 1903
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List of The Bibelots advertised in a copy of Chapters of Nottinghamshire History, 1908. |
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The Garrick Series. From The Bookman, Christmas 1909 issue. Titles issued in 1909. |
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Advertisement for Gay’s Shilling Novels (Library) from the inside front cover of The Home Counties Magazine, June 1910. Note the name difference. This is likely a mistake in the advertisement: no titles appear under the series name “Shilling Novels” in WorldCat. |
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The Modern Treasury Series. From The Bookman, February 10, 1928. All were Ellen Wheeler Wilcox titles. |
Gay’s Shilling Library comprised a series of titles issued by Gay & Hancock in the UK. Most were reprints from earlier Gay & Bird titles. Titles were issued between 1910 and 1914, with reprints until 1927. A bookmark (below, not in my collection) describes the first 6 titles in the series.
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Titles through #9. From an advertisement in the back of Gerhart Hauptmann: His Life and His Work, 1862-1912. By Karl Holl. Gay & Hancock, 1913. |
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Titles through #12. From The Bookseller, May 1916. |
Below find titles in the series with the initial year of publication and additional earlier and later printings. I’ve also added printings outside of the UK. Many of the titles were initially published in the US. All the authors were very popular late 19th and early 20th century writers.
#1. J.S. Fletcher. When Charles the First was King, a Romance of Osgoldcross, 1632-49, 1910 (2nd edition, 6th impression), 1923, 1927. UK editions were published by R. Bentley in 1892; Gay & Bird in 1894, 1895, 1896, 1899; J. Milne 1902. US editions published by A.C. McClurg, 1895, 1896. Canadian edition published by Musson Book Co. Ltd., 1902.
#2. Roger Pocock, Curly: A Tale of the Arizona Desert, 1910, 1914. An earlier edition was published by Gay & Bird in 1904. UK editions published by Heinemann, 1904; A & C Black, 1931. US editions published by Little, Brown, and Company, 1905, 1920; Grosset & Dunlap 1905. Canadian edition published by F.D. Goodchild, 1920.
#3. Kate Douglas Wiggin, The Affair at the Inn, 1910. An earlier edition was published by Gay & Bird in 1904. UK edition published by George Bell, 1904. US editions by Houghton Mifflin 1904 and Grosset & Dunlap 1904. International edition published by Tauchnitz, 1905
#4. Kate Douglas Wiggin, Timothy’s Quest, 1910. Earlier editions were published by Gay & Bird in 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1899, 1900, 1902, 1904, 1905, 1908. Additonal Gay & Hancock printings 1911, 1913, 1922; unknown if in series. Initial US editions Houghton Mifflin Company, 1890; Grosset & Dunlap, 1890.
#5. Kate Douglas Wiggin, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, 1912, 1914. Earlier editions were published by Gay & Bird in 1903, 1904, 1905, 1907, 1908, 1911. Additional Gay & Hancock editions 1920, 1921, 1924, 1926; unknown if in series. I’ve not included the publishing history beyond Gay & Bird and Gay & Hancock because it is too extensive.
#6. Roger Pocock, A Frontiersman, 1911. UK edition published by Methuen, 1903, 1904, 1911. US edition published by McClure, Phillips & Co., 1903.
#7. Sydney H. Burchell, My Lady of the Bass, 1912. Earlier edition published by Gay & Bird in 1902. Additional edition published by Gay & Hancock in 1914, unknown if in series. I cannot find a non-UK edition of this title.
#8. Simpson Newland, Paving The Way: A Romance of the Australian Bush, 1912, 1913, 1916, 1919. Earlier editions published by Gay & Bird in 1893, 1894, 1895, 1898. Illustrated edition published by Gay & Hancock in 1913. US edition published by Drexel Biddle, 1899. Australian edition published by F.W. Preece, 1936; Rigby Ltd., 1950, 1954, 1962, 1972; Moroak, 1982.
#9 Anne Warner, Seeing France with Uncle John, 1913. Earlier edition published by Gay & Bird in 1906. US edition published by Century Co., 1906.
#10. Ella Wheeler Wilcox, An Ambitious Man, 1914. Earlier edition published by Gay & Hancock in 1908. US editions published by W.B. Conkey Co., 1896, E.A. Weeks 1896.
#11. Kate Douglas Wiggin, Polly Oliver’s Problem, 1914. Earlier edition published by Gay & Bird, 1894. 1896, 1901. US edition published by Houghton, Mifflin, 1893, 1894, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1900, 1916, 1917, 1921; Grosset & Dunlap, 1951
#12. Kate Douglas Wiggin, A Summer in Cañon: A California Story, 1914. Earlier editions published by Gay & Bird in 1895, 1905. US editions published by Houghton, Mifflin, and Co., 1889, 1890, 1892, 1893, 1896, 1898, 1899, 1917.
Roger Pocock’s Curly: A Tale of the Arizona Desert was #2 in the series and issued in 1910. Gay and Bird published the initial UK edition in 1904, and Heinemann also published an edition that year. Gay & Bird may have negotiated with Heinemann to publish a cheaper edition relatively soon after the book’s initial publication – somewhat like Grosset & Dunlap in the US who reprinted popular US titles.
Dust jackets are illustrated in color and unique to each title. The book title, subtitle, author, price (1/—net), and publisher are on the jacket spine. The front cover includes the title, subtitle, author, and a color illustration by Stanley L. Wood, dated 1904. The front jacket flap includes the series name, the series number for this title, and a run of reviews. The publisher’s name is also included on the front jacket flap.
The back of the jacket advertises a non-series book, In Empire’s Cause by Ernest Protheroe, with extensive quotes from reviews. The back jacket flap lists editions of Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s poems.
The binding in pale lavender cloth is of better than average quality for such cheap reprint book series. The book title, subtitle, author, and publisher are on the spine. The title, subtitle, and author are on the front of the book.
Blank endpapers:
A few pages of advertisements start the book. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is the first:
Wiggin’s Penelope’s Experiences in … series follows. The half-title page includes the book title.
The copyright page includes the original Gay & Hancock editions, and editions in the Gay’s Shilling Library edition (called the Popular Edition). This book is the second printing in 1910.
“William Brendan and Son, Ltd. Printers, Plymouth”
