THe former John "Jock" Arnaud Robin Grey

Sure, the early list included books with titles such as Observations on the Utility and Administration of Purgative Medicine in Several Diseases, and Hints to the Bearers of Walking Sticks and Umbrellas, but it also included Charles Darwin‘s An Abstract Of an Essay on the Origin of Species and Varieties Through Natural Selection and the works of Lord Byron, making John Murray one of the greatest publishing houses in British history.

Since its founding in 1768, says Ian Sansom notes in an appreciation for the Guardian, the “extraordinary story” of the company has been “a tale of regeneration and of the significance of a name,” with generation after generation of John Murrays at the helm — even sustaining when John Murray V failed to produce a son. Instead, his sister’s son, John “Jock” Arnaud Robin Grey, legally changed his name to John Murray, and the line continued. “So, after more than 200 years the business was in good order and the succession assured,” notes Sansom.

So what happened? According to Sansom, “in the end the conglomerates did for John Murray. There was no longer room for an eccentric and independent family publishing business — and the young Murrays wanted to live their own lives. John Murray VII steered the firm through the 1990s as chairman, but it was sold to Hodder Headline in 2002. The Murray family are free to live and work as they will: the dynasty is dead.”