Inheritance

Harvill Secker is a firm with a long and illustrious history. Originally, Harvill and Secker were two separate companies, both with a particular interest in publishing international literature. The two imprints were formally joined together in 2005 but Harvill Secker's first incarnation, Martin Secker Ltd, was founded in 1910. Both as separate firms, and together as Harvill Secker, the house has enjoyed the contribution of many talented and committed authors, editors and other supporters over the years. It has been lucky enough to publish twenty Nobel Prize-winners, four Booker Prize-winners and to survive many changes of name and address, a variety of owners and mergers, a famous fake, an author who claimed his overdue manuscript had been eaten by a crocodile, the Blitz, a direct hit on a warehouse, a handful of libel actions, bankruptcies and a trial that rewrote obscenity laws.

Read more