Rayner Stephens Unwin CBE (23 December 1925 – 23 November 2000) was an English publisher. He served as the chairman of the publishing firm George Allen & Unwin, which had been founded by his father Sir Stanley Unwin.
Early life
Unwin was born in 1925 in Hampstead, London, one of four children from the marriage of publisher Stanley Unwin and Mary née Storr (1883–1971). His father was the founder of the publishing house George Allen & Unwin. As a young boy, Unwin served as a test reader for the firm, as his father believed that children were the best judges of what made good children's books. He was paid one shilling for each written report, which as Unwin later remarked was "good money in those days".
Most notable among the reviews he wrote for his father was his 1936 report, aged 10, for the J. R. R. Tolkien book The Hobbit. "Not a very good piece of literary criticism," he later said of the report, "but in those happy days, no second opinion was needed; if I said it was good enough to publish, it was published."
After attending Abbotsholme School in Rocester between the ages of 10 and 17, Unwin started working as a book salesman for Basil Blackwell, whose father was the founder of Blackwell's bookshop in Oxford. Between 1944 and 1947, he served in East Asia as a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He then studied for an undergraduate degree at Trinity College, Oxford, before completing a master's degree in English at Harvard University, which he attended as a Fulbright scholar.
Career
Allen and Unwin
In 1951, Unwin began working for his father's firm George Allen & Unwin, with a starting salary of £35 per week. George Allen & Unwin published The Hobbit in September 1937. Rayner Unwin entered publishing himself around 1951, and was offered the manuscript for The Lord of the Rings. He thought it ought to be published as well, and writing to his father with the figures, he said he thought they might lose a thousand pounds. Sir Stanley wrote back, saying "If you think this to be a work of genius, then you may lose a thousand pounds."
Unwin was also responsible for the first UK publication of the Roald Dahl children's books James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dahl had been struggling to find a publisher for these titles in the UK, but caught the attention of Unwin after Unwin's daughter Camilla became captivated by a copy of James and the Giant Peach that her schoolfriend Tessa Dahl (Roald's daughter) had given her.
When Sir Stanley died in 1968, Unwin became the new chairman of the firm. His father had been preparing him for the role during his time at the firm; Rayner's older brother David had decided to pursue a career as a children's author instead. David Unwin later wrote in his memoirs: "I have always felt guilty at my defection, for by taking my place Rayner sacrificed his own promising career as an author".
Initially, the firm enjoyed success under the chairmanship of Unwin. However, during the 1980s, the firm's comparatively small turnover of £8 million became a cause for concern. In 1986, George Allen & Unwin was merged with Bell and Hyman to form Unwin Hyman, with Unwin acting as chairman. In 1989, the new firm faced serious difficulties when managing director Robin Hyman became seriously ill at a time when the company's profits were declining rapidly. The company was acquired by HarperCollins in 1990, a decision to which Unwin was opposed. Before the contract was signed, Unwin resigned as a protest, and he remarked to his friends: "I feel I've betrayed my father."
