Records of The Bodley Head Ltd

The bulk of the collection consists of material from the latter half of the twentieth century.

There are editorial files for adult books 1961-1980s; editorial files for children's books from the 1970s and 1980s; publicity files for adult books including reviews c.1950-1980s; publicity files c.1950-1984 for children's books; reviews of children's books 1939-1984; production files for adult books c. 1950-1980s; a few production files for children's books from the 1970s; readers' reports c. 1950-1980s.

In addition, there are papers of John Lane dating mostly from the 1920s and 1930s. There is also material from subsidiary firms. Hollis & Carter items include editorial files 1948-1981 and rights correspondence 1946-1960. Putnam material includes editorial files 1932-1979, book reviews 1950s-1980s. Bowes & Bowes material includes editorial files 1948-1976 and reviews 1950s-1980s. The records of the subsidiaries have been catalogued into the main series of records.

There are no records in the collection for before c1918. The majority of early company records are held in the John Lane Company Collection at the Harry Ransom Centre, Texas.

In addition, there are few or no records for the years 1936 to 1960 when the company was run by a consortium of publishers.

Prior permission from Random House is required. Please contact University of Reading, Special Collections for further information.