Burns
& Oates - (en)
Burns & Oates is a British publishing house which now exists as an
imprint of Continuum. It was founded by James Burns in 1835, originally as
a bookseller. Burns was of Presbyterian background and he gained a
reputation as a High Church publisher, producing works by the Tractarians.
In 1847 his business was put in jeopardy when he converted to Catholicism,
but the firm was fortunate to receive the support of John Henry Newman,
who chose the firm to publish many of his works. There is a story that
Newman's novel Loss and Gain was written specifically to assist Burns.
After a while trading as Burns, James Burns took a partner, renaming the
company Burns & Lambert. In 1866 they were joined by a younger man,
William Wilfred Oates, making the company Burns, Lambert & Oates and
later Burns & Oates. Oates was another Catholic convert, and had
previously co-founded the publishing house of Austin & Oate's based in
Bristol. Burns & Oates passed to his son Wilfred Oates, whose sister
Mother Mary Salome became one of the firm’s most successful authors.
In the USA the company's agent was The Catholic Publications Society of
New York.
