A & C Black was oldest UK publisher in the same family hands until it became part of Bloomsbury. Produced to coincide with two hundredth anniversary of the company's foundation, this book shows how survival in a rapidly changing world and principles of careful publishing have enabled Black to retain much of its character.

A & C Black was the oldest UK publisher still in the same family hands until it became part of Bloomsbury at the start of the twenty first century. From small beginnings in Edinburgh in 1807, under the original and remarkable Adam Black, the firm went on to publish "Walter Scott" and the "Encyclopedia Britannica" as well as "Who's Who" and "Writers' & Artists' Yearbook", both of which remain on the list today. The very popular and much collected, "Colour Books" revolutionised publishing in the early nineteen hundreds and, in later years, the educational list formed an essential part of any primary school library. Produced to coincide with the two hundredth anniversary of the company's foundation, this is a story of innovation and survival in a rapidly changing world and the principles of careful publishing have enabled Black to retain much of its character today.