Angus and Robertson
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| Industry | Online (Specialty) |
|---|---|
| Founded | Sydney, Australia |
| Founder | David Angus, George Robertson |
| Headquarters | Australia |
| Products | Books & DVDs |
| Owner | Booktopia |
| Website | www |
Angus & Robertson (A&R) is an online Australian bookseller, book publisher and book printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature. This well known Australian brand currently exists in a reduced form as part of online bookseller Booktopia. The Angus & Robertson imprint is still seen in books published by HarperCollins, a News Corporation company.
The first bookstore was opened in 110½ Market Street, Sydney by Scotsman David Angus in 1884; it initially sold only secondhand books. In 1886, he went into partnership with fellow Scot George Robertson. This George Robertson should not be confused with his contemporary, George Robertson the Melbourne bookseller, who later traded as Robertson & Mullens.
In 1895 the company moved to 89 Castlereagh Street, Sydney. The head office of the firm was at Castlereagh Street until the 1950s. The shop was known as the "biggest bookshop in the world". In 1907 the partnership was converted into a public company: Angus & Robertson Limited. In 1951 a store was established in Australia's High Commission in London, which operated until the 1970s.
In the 1950s, Angus & Robertson began the growth which led it to become Australia's first nationwide chain of bookstores. In 1977, it opened its first franchise store in the southern Sydney suburb of Hurstville. In 2006, the company had over 170 stores spread throughout the country, and it claimed that it had more than twice as many stores as Australia's next largest bookseller. The firm had about 18% share in the Australian book retail market.
George Robertson encouraged book collector David Scott Mitchell to convert to collecting in the then-neglected field of Australian literature. Mitchell accumulated a large collection (many bought from A&R), which ultimately formed the basis of the Mitchell Library of the State Library of New South Wales. George Robertson also encouraged businessman and collector William Dixson to collect Australian books and art. His collection ultimately formed the Dixson Library of the State Library of New South Wales.
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Wikipedia