Religious Tract Society
The Religious Tract Society, founded 1799, 56 Paternoster Row and 65 St. Paul's Chuchyard and 164 Piccadilly, was the original name of a major British publisher of Christian literature intended initially for evangelism, and including literature aimed at children, women, and the poor.
The RTS is also notable for being the publisher of the Boy's Own Paper,[1] Girl's Own Paper and The Leisure Hour.
Founding group
At the foundation of the Religious Tract Society, there was support from bishops, including Shute Barrington (Durham) and Beilby Porteus (London).[2] The founding group included:
- David Bogue, Independent;[3]
- Robert Hawker, Anglican;[4]
- Joseph Hughes, Baptist;[5] and
- Joseph Reyner as treasurer, business partner of Joseph Hardcastle, Independent.[6]
The founders were drawn from the same group of evangelicals who founded the London Missionary Society in 1795, and the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804.
Publications
The society started by publishing tracts, but rapidly expanded their work into the production of books and periodicals. Their books were mostly small but did include larger works such as the multi-volume Devotional Commentary and the massive Analytical Concordance to the Bible of Robert Young.
From the 1860s, the Society began publishing novels aimed at women and children, providing a platform for a new generation of women writers, including Rosa Nouchette Carey.[7]
20th century changes
In 1935 the RTS merged with the Christian Literature Society for India and Africa to form the United Society for Christian Literature (USCL). In 1931, there was a change of imprint to Lutterworth Press for all RTS publications intended for the home market.
Works
- Address to an emigrant (1839)
Further reading
- William Jones, The Jubilee Memorial of the Religious Tract Society. London, The Religious Tract Society, 1850, 706 pages. Gives a full description of the first fifty years and remains the indispensable guide to the foundation of the Society
- Samuel G. Green, The Story of the Religious Tract Society for one hundred years. London, Religious Tract Society, 1899, 216 pages. Brings the story up to the centenary, but is much less illuminating
- Gordon Hewitt, Let the People Read . . .London, Lutterworth Press, 1949, 96 pages. Illustrations by Richard Kennedy
- Aileen Fyfe, Science and Salvation: Evangelical Popular Science Writing in Victorian Britain. Chicago, Illinois, University of Chicago Press, 2004, 432 pages. ISBN 978-0-226-27648-9. Deals with one aspect of the Society's publishing programme
- Dennis Butts and Pat Garrett (ed.), From the Dairyman's Daughter to Worrals of the WAAF: The Religious Tract Society, Lutterworth Press and Children's Literature. Concentrates on the contribution to children's writing from the foundation onwards.
See also
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- American Tract Society
- Clapham Sect
- Ebenezer Henderson
- History of Christian Missions
- George Mogridge (Old Humphrey) - one of the Society's most popular and prolific authors
- Miss Clack
References
- ↑ Jules Verne: Boy's Own Paper / Boy's Own Annual - ANash
- ↑ Varley, E. A. "Barrington, Shute". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1534. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ Laird, Michael. "Bogue, David". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2766. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ Carter, Grayson. "Hawker, Robert". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/12655. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ Chadwick, Rosemary. "Hughes, Joseph". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/47091. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ Gregory, Stephen. "Hardcastle, Joseph". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/54059. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ Women in the Literary Marketplace http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/womenLit/literary_market/Religious_Tract_S_L.htm
External links
- Works by or about Religious Tract Society at Internet Archive
- Works by Religious Tract Society at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- School of Oriental and African Studies page on RTS/USCL
- Schaff-Herzog article on Tract Societies with lengthy section on RTS