page_title: The John Murray Archive
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: The John Murray Archive / History
caption_attribution_description: Photograph; Photographs
context_page_description: The John Murray Archive is a collection of 234 years' worth of manuscripts, private letters, and business papers from various notable, mostly British, authors including correspondence between Mary Shelley and Lord Byron, and letters of Jane Austen and Charles Darwin. The Archive consists of over 1 million items, valued at over £100 million and is kept at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland.
context_section_description: The father of House of John Murray publishing, John Murray (1737-1793), founded the business in 1768 after moving to London in pursuit of his fortune.  Murray, who was born in Scotland as John McMurray, laid the foundations of what would eventually be a much larger and more influential publishing house, though he did help to establish many writers such as Isaac D'Israeli and also launched the English Review in 1783. 
  Murray was succeeded by his son, John Murray II (1778-1843), who went on to publish notable authors like Jane Austen, Sir Walter Scott, and Lord Byron. The publisher was wildly successful for generations of Murrays to come, with John Murray III (1808-1892) having published Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species' and Herman Melville's first two novels. The third Murray also published Murray's Handbooks for Travellers (1836). In total, the Murray family headed the business from London for seven generations, initially at 32 Fleet Street and then at 50 Albemarle Street in 1812. 
  Over the years the publishing house produced books covering a vast range of genres, from travel to biography. The House of Murray was also involved in other publishing ventures such as John Murray II's periodical, The Quarterly Review. The John Murray Archive is a repository for papers and records of the business itself, including information related to the financial and administrative side of the company as well as some literary manuscripts.  
  Two other publishing archives are contained within the John Murray Archive, the first of these being the papers of Charles Elliot, an Edinburgh-born bookseller and publisher. The Archive has these papers because of John Murray II's marriage to Anne Elliot, Charles Elliot's daughter. Also a part of the John Murray Archive are the papers which relate to Smith, Elder and Company, another publishing house which helped establish the Brontes, Anthony Trollope, and Arthur Conan Doyle. 
  The National Library of Scotland acquired the John Murray Archive in part in 2006 having bought it from John Murray VII and his wife, Virginia, the most recent owners of House of John Murray publishing, for £31.2 million. This first purchase excluded material relating to John Murray publishing in the 20th century. The NLS has since received further items relating to this period and others, and they continue to do so ad hoc.
caption: John Murray III, 1843 - 1847
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