Faber & Faber: The Untold History of a Great Publishing House

Culled from 90 years’ worth of correspondence, board minutes, and other material from the Faber & Faber archives, this compilation from Faber (Fabergé’s Eggs), the company’s former managing director (and its founder’s grandson), offers a uniquely close-up view of 20th-century literary history. It includes fascinating stories about now-canonical works, such as how Lord of the Flies was published by the company despite being rejected by a reader’s note that dismissed the initial manuscript as an “absurd & uninteresting fantasy about the explosion of an atom bomb on the colonies.” However, its greatest value lies in revealing the personalities of Faber & Faber’s key figures, including Geoffrey Faber, who founded it in 1929; despite the company’s name, he had no partner, but simply reasoned, as a friend advised him, “You can’t have too much of a good thing.” Perhaps most notably, the book gives a new view of longtime Faber & Faber director T.S. Eliot, who comes across as humane, witty, and deeply dedicated to the company, and whose friendship with Geoffrey Faber emerges as one of the 20th century’s great unsung literary partnerships. Brimming with humanizing details and unforgettable literary personalities, Faber’s compilation will be a delight for literature fans. Agent: Peter Straus, Rogers Coleridge & White.(Aug.)