Edward William Cole

{{Short description|Australian bookseller (1832–1918)}} {{EngvarB|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}} {{Infobox person |birth_name = Edward William Cole |image = Edward William Cole portrait.jpg |image_size = |caption = Edward William Cole outside his home Earlsbrae Hall in Essendon, Victoria, Australia. |birth_date = 4 January 1832<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/hindsight/the-imaginarium-of-ew-cole/2930080|title=The Imaginarium of EW Cole"|website=Radio National |date=9 August 2011 |access-date=August 21, 2011}}</ref> |birth_place = Woodchurch, U.K. |death_date = 16 December 1918 (aged 86) |death_place = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |death_cause = |nationality = |occupation = bookseller, author, editor |spouse = |children = |signature = }} '''Edward William Cole''', also known as "E. W. Cole of the Book Arcade", (4 January 1832{{spaced ndash}}16 December 1918) was a bookseller and founder of the ''Cole's Book Arcade'', Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.<ref name="adb1969">E. Cole Turnley, [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cole-edward-william-3243 "Cole, Edward William (1832–1918)"], ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 3, Melbourne University Press, 1969, pp. 438–440. Retrieved 27 July 2022.</ref>

==Early life== Cole was born at Woodchurch, Kent, England, to Harriet Cole, on 4 January 1832. Harriet's husband, Amos Cole, was on the hulks in Plymouth at the time of Edward's conception and therefore Amos could not be Edward's father, whose identity remains unknown.<ref name="rudd">Tony Rudd, [https://www.dropbox.com/s/s6drrmlp6vbij12/Amos%20Cole.pdf?dl=0 EW Cole’s Father in Name Only: Amos Besor Cole], Tony Rudd, n.d. Rerrieved 28 August 2021.</ref> Harriet herself was both illegitimate and illiterate. Cole received little formal education and he himself confirmed that "he had as a boy only six months' schooling."<ref>[https://www.dropbox.com/s/8zi1rbztkmrp5rf/1918%2012%2017%20Age%20Tue%20p1%20and%20p7%20Death%20of%20Mr%20E%20W%20Cole%20Transcript.pdf?dl=0 "Death of Mr. E. W. Cole: Founder of Cole's Book Arcade: A Unique Career"], ''The Age'', 7 December 1918, p. 7. Retrieved 29 August 2021.</ref> When Cole was four, despite no record of a divorce, his mother Harriet married again to Thomas Watson, on 27 February 1836, just two months before Amos was transported to Van Diemen's Land on 24 April, 1836.<ref name="rudd" /> Aged 18, Cole moved to London in 1850 with £20. On 14 April 1850, he migrated to the Cape Colony aboard the 'Dalhousie' and had some success as a farmer and enjoyed botanical explorations.<ref>Duxbury, K. (2003), "With Mirrors and Rainbows: Part 1", ''Australian Garden History'', 14 (6), pp. 20–24.</ref> On November 11, 1852 Cole arrived at Cole's Wharf (no relation) in Melbourne, Victoria.

==Bookseller== With the pending redevelopment of the Eastern Market, in December 1873 Cole moved to a building a little further down Bourke Street, and opened a book shop grandly named "Coles Book Arcade", where his flair for publicity made it a success. Meanwhile, the new Eastern Market had opened in 1879, but it was not a success, most vendors finding better conditions and lower rents at the Queen Victoria Market. Cole offered to rent the ''whole'' of the market in 1881, to which the City of Melbourne agreed. He marketed it as a leisure centre rather than a place to buy fresh food, a model which proved a success. After one year, Council did not renew the lease, hoping to capitalise on Cole's initiative, but it was never again so popular.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-04|title=Under the Rainbow, Richard Broinowski|url=https://www.mup.com.au/books/under-the-rainbow-hardback|access-date=2021-12-31|website=Melbourne University Publishing}}</ref> Cole then began negotiations for a building further down Bourke Street near the General Post Office.

==Cole's Book Arcade== [[File:Cole's Book Arcade, Melbourne.tif|thumb|Interior of Cole's Book Arcade, Bourke Street, Melbourne]] Cole's Book Arcade was opened in its new location on 27 January 1883 and grew into one of the great book businesses of Australia. It became known as "the prettiest sight in Melbourne".<ref>[http://www.egold.net.au/objects/DEG000070.htm Image – Cole's Book Arcade – Electronic Encyclopedia of Gold in Australia]</ref><ref>[http://www.egold.net.au/biogs/EG00062b.htm Cole's Book Arcade – Concept – Electronic Encyclopedia of Gold in Australia]</ref> Such was its renown that Cole's Book Arcade was visited by writers Rudyard Kipling and Mark Twain during their travels to Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/rn/hindsight/stories/2011/3289272.htm|title = The Imaginarium of EW Cole| website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date = 9 August 2011}}</ref> The shop was a huge three story space, with new books on the ground floor, used books on the first, and knick-knacks on the top. Over the years it expanded in size and variety of offerings, such as a music department and cafe, and a small orchestra played on the first floor at lunchtimes. Eventually it ran right through to Little Collins Street and incorporated buildings on either side.

==''Funny Picture Books''== He compiled and published a large number of popular books, of which the ''Cole's Funny Picture Book'' series, which was launched with great publicity on Christmas Eve 1879, and ''Cole's Fun Doctor'' were most successful, their sales running into many hundreds of thousands. Another publication (early 1900s) was ''Cole's Treasury of Song, A Collection of the Most Popular Songs [Old and New]'' containing about a thousand songs.

==Other publishing activities== Under the "W. T. Cole" and "Cole's Book Arcade" imprints, Cole published books on many subjects from war and peace to spiritualism, from popular works of adventure and humour to volumes of sheet music and the great literary classics. He also published many book series, including the Federation of the World Library,<ref>J. Ewing Ritchie (Christopher Crayon), ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/62069/62069-h/62069-h.htm An Australian Ramble, or A Summer in Australia]'', London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1890. Retrieved 27 July 2022.</ref> the Cream of Human Thought Library,<ref name="adb1969" /> the Commonwealth Library, Cole's Commonwealth Music Books<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=se%3A%22Cole%27s+Commonwealth+Music+Books%22&qt=results_page se:Cole's Commonwealth Music Books], worldcat.org. Retrieved 27 July 2022.</ref> and Coles Useful Books.<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=hotseries&q=se%3A%22Cole%27s+useful+books%22 se:Cole's Useful Books], worldcat.org. Retrieved 27 July 2022.</ref> Authors published ranged from Henry Lawson to W. T. Stead.

==Horticulture books== Cole also had great success publishing gardening and horticultural literature. ''Cole’s Penny Garden Guide'' was abridged from the ''Law Somner and Co. Handbook to the Garden'' (1880), a device much used by Cole. His biggest garden success was ''Cole’s Australasian Gardening and Domestic Floriculture'' (1897) by William Elliott. He also published Hamilton McEwin’s ''The Fruitgrower’s Handbook'', and reprinted others, such as John Lockley’s ''Rose Growing Made Easy'', under his imprint. Cole’s ''The Happifying Gardening Hobby'' (1918), an endearing anthology of words and pictures, embodied his altruistic wish for universal health and happiness.<ref>Aitken, R., (2002), ‘Cole, Edward William’, in R. Aitken and M. Looker (eds), ''Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens'', South Melbourne, Oxford University Press, p. 147.</ref> Historian Ken Duxbury describes this work as a "sort of horticultural version" of ''Cole’s Funny Picture Book''.<ref name="Duxbury">Duxbury, K. (2003), "With Mirrors and Rainbows: Part 2", ''Australian Garden History'', 15 (1), pp. 14–19.</ref> Cole also edited a booklet entitled ''Cotton Growing: The Coming Leading Industry in Australia'' in 1905 and in 1913, the second edition of ''The Fruitgrower’s Handbook''. Over the next two years, he published two works by A. E. Cole (no relation) ''The Bouquet: Australian Flower Gardening'' and ''The Australian Floral Almanac''.<ref name="Duxbury" />

==Current affairs== In the final years of his life Cole penned a number of pamphlets on social and political issues. These included ''A White Australia Impossible'' (1898) and ''The White Australia Question'' (1903), anti-racist tracts directed against the White Australia policy. His fervent opposition to the policy led to him making a six month visit to Japan with his wife and two daughters in 1902.<ref>[https://www.ewcole.com/publication/race/ Race], ewcole.com. Retrieved 27 July 2022.</ref> During the First World War he also compiled booklets, such as ''War'' (1917),<ref>E. W. Cole, ''[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/220044115 War]'', Melbourne : E.W. Cole, Book Arcade, 1917, worldcat.org. Retrieved 27 July 2022.</ref> denouncing armed conflict.

==Personal life and legacy== thumb|right|A photograph of E. W. Cole in a garden with his grandson, taken in 1918 Cole married Eliza Frances Jordan in 1875; she predeceased him, dying on 15 March 1911. They lived in a flat above the arcade.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mellor|first=Amelia|date=2020-09-29|title=Cole's Book Arcade was Melbourne's literary funhouse, but its creator was truly inspirational|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/29/coles-book-arcade-was-melbournes-literary-funhouse-but-its-creator-was-truly-inspirational|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929025008/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/29/coles-book-arcade-was-melbournes-literary-funhouse-but-its-creator-was-truly-inspirational |archive-date=29 September 2020 |access-date=2020-10-04|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> Cole himself died in Melbourne on 16 December 1918 and was buried in Boroondara Cemetery. Two sons and three daughters outlived him.

Cole has been dubbed a "marketing genius",<ref>Richard Broinowski, ''Under the Rainbow: The Life and Times of E.W. Cole'', Melbourne University Publishing, 2020, page ix.</ref> with his Book Arcade being an integral part of "Marvellous Melbourne" and designed as a "carnival, a place to see and be seen", a "shop like no other, crammed with new and second-hand books and other wares, but with the atmosphere of a circus", and enticing customers of all ages in "with a menagerie and fernery, a band, a clockwork symphonion and other mechanical delights",<ref name="medal-worldcat">[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/782859651 Medal - E.W. Cole, Cole's Book Arcade, Victoria, Australia, 1918], worldcat.org. Retrieved 27 July 2022.</ref> while its main business remained the selling of books. Its proprietor, E. W. Cole, was moreover an "optimist and idealist, believing passionately in the power of education and envisaged a world without borders",<ref name="medal-worldcat" /> views which he expounded through his books and pamphlets.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * Broinowski, Richard, ''Under the Rainbow: The Life and Times of E.W. Cole'', Melbourne University Publishing, 2020. * Dean, George D., ''A Handbook on E. W. Cole, His Book Arcade, Tokens and Medals'', Tarragindi, Queensland: G. D. & G. F. Dean, 1988. *Macartney, Frederick T. (1955). ''Furnley Maurice'' (Frank Wilmot). Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Frank Wilmot was an Australian poet who was a manager at the Book Arcade for many years. *Ruljancich, Sally, "Cole's Book Arcade", in Andrew Brown-May and Shurlee Swain (eds), ''The Encyclopedia of Melbourne'', Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2005. *{{Dictionary of Australian Biography |first=Edward William |last=Cole |shortlink=0-dict-biogCl-Cu.html#cole1 |access-date=17 January 2017}} at gutenberg.net.au * Tout-Smith, Deborah, [https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/1900 Cole's Book Arcade Collection], Museums Victoria Collections, n.d. * Turnley, E. Cole, [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cole-edward-william-3243 "Cole, Edward William (1832–1918)"], Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 3, Melbourne University Press, 1969, pp. 438–440. * Turnley, E. Cole, ''Cole of the Book Arcade: A Pictorial Biography of E.W. Cole'', Hawthorn, Victoria: Cole Publications, 1974.

==External links== * [https://www.ewcole.com E. W. Cole] - website devoted to Cole with Publications, Tokens, Biographical and Chronology sections * [https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/the-life-and-times-of-e.w.-cole/12620976 The life and times of EW Cole], Richard Broinowski, author of ''Under the Rainbow: The Life and Times of E.W. Cole'' interviewed by Phillip Adams, ABC's Radio National, 3 September 2020 * {{Gutenberg author | id=34776| name=Edward William Cole}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Edward William Cole |sopt=t}} * {{Librivox author |id=3416}} * ''[https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/74VvlKPrzl8Z/4N2od4PArelbw War]'' by E. W. Cole (1917) - digital edition at State Library of New South Wales *[http://www.egold.net.au/objects/DEG000068.htm Photo of E. W. Cole (Electronic Encyclopedia of Gold in Australia)] from State Library of Victoria's Pictures Collection *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110612094804/http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictures/0/0/0/doc/pi000108.shtml Photo of Mrs E. W. Cole in the Coles Book Arcade, c. 1901] at State Library of Victoria *[http://www.austlit.edu.au/run?ex=ShowAgent&agentId=A29U E. W. Cole] at AustLit *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080310231058/http://www.whitehat.com.au/Australia/People/ColeEW.asp E. W. Cole] at www.whitehat.com.au * [https://search.sl.nsw.gov.au/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=SLNSW_ALMA21117958520002626&context=L&vid=SLNSW&lang=en_US&search_scope=E&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=default_tab&query=any,contains,Collection%20of%20E.W.%20Cole%20ephemera,%20ca.%201883-ca.%201910&offset=0 Collection of E.W. Cole ephemera, ca. 1883-ca. 1910] at State Library of New South Wales * [https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/search?query=cole%27s+book+arcades Cole's Book Arcade items in Museums Victoria collections] * [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/782859651 Medal - E.W. Cole, Cole's Book Arcade, Victoria, Australia, 1918] at Museum Victoria * [https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-152490163/view The world's language, token from Cole's Book Arcade, Melbourne, ca. 1885] (realia) at National Library of Australia

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Edward William}} Category:1832 births Category:1918 deaths Category:People from Woodchurch, Kent Category:Businesspeople from Melbourne Category:Culture of Melbourne Category:English emigrants to colonial Australia Category:Australian booksellers Category:19th-century Australian publishers (people) Category:Australian book and manuscript collectors Category:19th-century Australian businesspeople Category:British emigrants to the Colony of Victoria