Victorian Literary Businesses: Online Book Launch with Dr Marrisa Joseph (Henley Business School)

Victorian Literary Businesses: The Management and Practices of the British Publishing Industry (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020)

This book explores the business practices of the British publishing industry from 1843-1900, discussing the role of creative businesses in society and the close relationship between culture and business in a historical context. Marrisa Joseph develops a strong cultural, social and historical discussion around the developments in copyright law, gender and literary culture from a management perspective; analysing how individuals formed professional associations and contract law to instigate new processes. Drawing on institutional theory and analysing primary and archival sources, this book traces how the practices of literary businesses developed, reproduced and later legitimised. By offering a close analysis of some of publishing’s most influential businesses, it provides an insight into the decision-making processes that shaped an industry and brings to the fore the ‘institutional story’ surrounding literary business and their practices, many of which can still be seen today.

Prior to entering academia Dr Marrisa Joseph worked in the publishing industry in licensing, rights and sales. Her PhD is in Business & Management from Queen Mary, University of London, and her research focuses on the formation of business practices in the Victorian publishing industry. In particular her research on literary networks in gentlemen’s clubs received the Journal of Management History Award for Best International Paper at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Her first monograph Victorian Literary Businesses was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2019, and currently she is a co-editor for a forthcoming volume The Edinburgh Companion to Women in Publishing 1900 – 2000. Furthermore, Marrisa is the Principle Investigator for a project funded by the Barnett Foundation which explores professional women’s writing in domestic magazines 1850-1900; this project draws on business archives based in the UK and US. Marrisa teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in entrepreneurship and management in media and creative industries; she also undertakes dissertation supervision for MBA students.

Please join the seminar here using Microsoft Teams. Information on joining Teams meetings without an account can be found here.