The Lutterworth Press
The Lutterworth Press is one of the longest-standing independently owned and run publishing houses in Britain. Over the course of more than two centuries, we have developed an impressive and expanding range of scholarly and trade nonfiction for a general readership.
Originally founded as the Religious Tract Society in 1799, we specialised in the areas of religion and edifying children’s literature, including perennial favourites such as The Boy’s Own Paper and The Girl’s Own Paper. By the mid-19th century, according to William Jones writing in 1850,
“the Society circulated upwards of four million children’s books, which has been the average number for several years. . . . Its catalogue contains nearly three hundred scriptural and entertaining books, which are adapted to convey important truths to youthful minds.”
As the Society’s list expanded to include an increasing range of titles, the decision was made to begin a new imprint called Lutterworth Press. The name had no explicit religious connotations, but the connection with John Wycliffe, who had been Rector in the eponymous Leicestershire town in the fourteenth century, was one that evangelicals would recognise instantly. The imprint went on to publish some of the most recognisable names in twentieth-century culture, including Sir David Attenborough, Sir Patrick Moore, and Enid Blyton.
The Lutterworth Press was bought by theological publishers James Clarke & Co in 1984, and continues to produce an expansive list of nonfiction and religious work of cultural importance. Our books continue to broadly reflect the Christian values on which the imprint was established, as well as a pioneering global outlook which was characteristic of the Society since its inception.
A more detailed history of the imprint, particularly in relation to its impact on British Children’s literature, can be found in From the Dairyman’s Daughter to the Worrals of the WAAF: The RTS, Lutterworth Press and Children’s Literature edited by Dennis Butts and Pat Garrett.
James Clarke and Co
Our sister imprint publishes academic and theological titles. Visit the imprint’s dedicated website to browse the full catalogue at www.JamesClarke.co.
