# Andrew Melrose > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Andrew_Melrose > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Andrew_Melrose.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Melrose > Source revision: 1287937199 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British publisher (1860–1928)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}} {{Use British English|date=January 2018}} {{For|the Scottish-born American painter|Andrew W. Melrose}} '''Andrew Melrose''' (5 February 1860 - 6 November 1928''[The Times](/source/The_Times)'' obituary; 7 November 1928) was a [British](/source/Great_Britain) [publisher](/source/publisher). Although he was noted for publishing theological works, he was also active in promoting new fiction, and offered a substantial cash prize for the best first novel submitted to his firm. == Life and works == Melrose was born in [Midlothian](/source/Midlothian). Much of his early career was spent at the London [Ludgate Hill](/source/Ludgate_Hill) offices of the Sunday School Union, where from 1893 he published the ''Sunday School Chronicle''. He began publishing under his own name around 1899 in York Street, [Covent Garden](/source/Covent_Garden), finally moving to an address next door to [Macmillan](/source/Macmillan_Publishers) in St. Martin Street, [Leicester Square](/source/Leicester_Square). Among the early writers he encouraged and published was [W.E. Cule](/source/W.E._Cule), a friend and colleague from the Sunday School Union. Between 1900 and 1903 Melrose published and contributed to a weekly paper ''Boys of the Empire'', the official organ of the Boys Empire League. The League's stated purpose was" to promote and strengthen a worthy Imperial Spirit in British-born boys".Rashna B. Singh. ''Goodly is our Heritage: Children's Literature, Empire, and the Certitude of Character'', Scarecrow Press, 2004 (p.43) {{ISBN|0-8108-5043-5}} The paper was edited by [Howard Spicer](/source/Howard_Spicer) (later Sir Howard). In 1911, Melrose was living at 68 Southwood Lane, [Highgate](/source/Highgate), with his wife Margaret and their children Ernest (20), Douglas (17), Allan (14), Kenneth (11) and Marjorie (9).1911 Census Melrose gained a reputation for publishing distinctive books of a theological kind.[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZGxNAAAAYAAJ&q=Melrose+novel+prize+1914 ''The Publishers' Circular and Booksellers' Record'', Vol. 116, p.107] He was described as "an extremely shrewd, somewhat dour Scotsman, possessing a keen sense of literary values". He was one of the pioneers of offering substantial money prizes to aspiring authors. Two early winners of the 250-guinea prize were [Agnes E. Jacomb](/source/Agnes_E._Jacomb) for her first novel ''The Faith of His Fathers'' (1909) and [Patricia Wentworth](/source/Patricia_Wentworth) for ''A Marriage Under The Terror'' (1910).James Milne, "Best Novel Competition Won by a Woman With Her First Book: Some Inferences Drawn" ''New York Times'', 9 April 1910 [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/04/09/104929210.pdf] In 1913, [Margaret Peterson](/source/Margaret_Peterson) won the prize for her novel ''The Lure of the Little Drum''.A.S. Barnes, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vScVAAAAIAAJ&q=Margaret+Peterson+Andrew+Melrose+drum ''Educational Foundations''], New York, 1914, p.371 A notable winner was [Catherine Carswell](/source/Catherine_Carswell) for her novel ''Open the Door'' (1920). Melrose also had a keen sense of book design, commissioning illustrations from some of the leading illustrators of his day such as [Charles Robinson](/source/Charles_Robinson_(illustrator)), [Florence Meyerheim](/source/Florence_Meyerheim), [Amelia Bauerle](/source/Amelia_Bauerle) and [William Gordon Mein](/source/Will_G._Mein). Melrose was not afraid of courting controversy in his choice of authors. In 1915 he published [Caradoc Evans](/source/Caradoc_Evans)'s story collection ''[My People](/source/My_People_(story_collection))'', a work that provoked outrage for its depiction of Welsh society. He was also responsible for introducing [David Grayson](/source/Ray_Stannard_Baker) to English readers and for publishing the letters of [Donald Hankey](/source/Donald_Hankey). The book on which Melrose chiefly prided himself was ''[The House with the Green Shutters](/source/The_House_with_the_Green_Shutters)'' by [George Douglas Brown](/source/George_Douglas_Brown). Melrose had met Brown through Howard Spicer, and the two encouraged Brown to write his grim story of a Scottish village. The following year, Brown died unexpectedly of pneumonia at Melrose's house in [Hornsey](/source/Hornsey).Andrew Melrose, ''George Douglas Brown, Reminiscences of a Friendship and a Notable Novel''; Cuthbert LennoxGeorge Douglas Brown. [https://archive.org/stream/georgedouglasbro00lennuoft/georgedouglasbro00lennuoft_djvu.txt ''The House with the Green Shutters: A Biographical Memoir''], Hodder and Stoughton, 1903. Melrose published a memorial edition of Brown's ''House with the Green Shutters'' in 1923 and subsequently unveiled a memorial to the author in his [Ayrshire](/source/Ayrshire) birthplace. Under the pseudonym of E. A. Macdonald, Melrose wrote popular biographies of missionary [Alexander Murdoch Mackay](/source/Alexander_Murdoch_Mackay),E.A. Macdonald (pseud.Andrew Melrose). ''Alexander Mackay, Missionary Hero of Uganda''. London, 1893. British statesman [William Ewart Gladstone](/source/William_Ewart_Gladstone)E. A. Macdonald (pseud.Andrew Melrose), ''Mr. Gladstone: A Popular Biography'', 1891 and explorer [Henry Morton Stanley](/source/Henry_Morton_Stanley).E.A. Macdonald (pseud.Andrew Melrose. ''The Story of Stanley, the Hero of Africa'', 1890 In 1927 Melrose's publishing business was taken over by the [Hutchinson](/source/Hutchinson_(publisher)) group and became known as Andrew Melrose Limited. It published religious and general titles and the imprint lasted until the mid-1950s. Melrose's son Douglas Melrose, who was associated with his father's business, founded the publishing firm of Melrose and Co. of [St Martin's Lane](/source/St_Martin's_Lane). == Melrose prize winners == The Melrose prize was awarded eight times between 1908 and 1923, and seven of the winners were women. {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year awarded !! Writer !! Title !! Adjudicators |- | 1909 || [Agnes E. Jacomb](/source/Agnes_E._Jacomb) || The Faith of His Fathers|| [Andrew Lang](/source/Andrew_Lang), [W. L. Courtney](/source/William_Leonard_Courtney), [Clement K. Shorter](/source/Clement_King_Shorter) |- | 1910 || [Patricia Wentworth](/source/Patricia_Wentworth) || A Marriage Under the Terror || [Flora Annie Steel](/source/Flora_Annie_Steel), [Mary Cholmondeley](/source/Mary_Cholmondeley), [Mrs Henry de la Pasture](/source/Mrs_Henry_de_la_Pasture) |- | 1911 || [Miriam Alexander](/source/Miriam_Alexander) || The House of Lisronan || [A. E. W. Mason](/source/A._E._W._Mason), [E. F. Benson](/source/E._F._Benson), [W. J. Locke](/source/W._J._Locke) |- | 1913 || [Margaret Peterson](/source/Margaret_Peterson) || The Lure of the Little Drum || [Joseph Conrad](/source/Joseph_Conrad), Mary Cholmondeley, W. J. Locke |- | 1914 || [Marius Lyle](/source/Marius_Lyle) (Una Maud L. Smyth) || Unhappy in Thy Daring || [H. G. Wells](/source/H._G._Wells), W. L. Courtney, A. E. W. Mason |- | 1920 || [Catherine Carswell](/source/Catherine_Carswell) || Open the Door! || Andrew Melrose |- | 1921 || Isabel Beaumont ([Constance Isabel Smith](/source/Constance_Isabel_Smith)) || Smokeless Burning || |- | 1923 || [A. G. Thornton](/source/A._G._Thornton) || An Astronomer at Large || |- |} ==References== {{reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Melville, Andrew}} Category:Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Category:Publishers (people) from Edinburgh Category:Writers from Edinburgh Category:1928 deaths Category:1860 births Category:19th-century Scottish people Category:People from Hornsey Category:Companies based in the City of Westminster --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Andrew Melrose](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Melrose) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Melrose?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.