Ernest
Benn, the eldest son of the Liberal politician,
John Benn and Lily Pickstone, a distant
relative of Josiah Wedgwood, was born
in London in 1875.
After being educated in London and Paris,
Ernest joined the family publishing company, Benn Brothers. When John
Benn was elected to the House of Commons
in 1892 he ceased to be active in the family publishing business.
Ernest Benn, now became managing director of Benn Brothers.
Benn, like his father and brother, William Wedgwood
Benn, supported the Liberal Party.
In the 1906 General Election he acted as
his brother's election agent when he won his seat at Wapping.
In 1921 William Wedgwood Benn introduced
Ernest Benn to his friend, Victor Gollancz.
On the recommendation of Wedgwood Benn, Gollancz was employed by Benn
Brothers to develop the list of magazines the company published.
Within six months Gollancz had convinced Ernest
Benn to let him publish a series of art books. The books were
a great success and during a seven year period turnover increased
from £2,000 to £250,000 a year. Benn wrote in his diary
that the increased company profits "reflects the greatest credit
to the genius of Victor Gollancz".
Victor Gollancz also recruited novelists
such as Edith Nesbit and H.
G. Wells. One innovation was to employ Gerald Gould, fiction editor
of the Observer, as chief
manuscript reader. Gollancz realised that if he published works selected
by Gould, the books would be guaranteed at least one good newspaper
review. Gollancz believed that good reviews was a major factor in
the selling of books. In critics liked a book published by the company,
Gollancz purchased full-page adverts in national newspapers such as
The Times and the Daily
Herald to tell the public about the good reviews.
Although Ernest Benn believed Victor Gollancz
was a "publishing genius" he was unwilling to give him full
control over the company. There were also political differences between
the two men. Whereas Benn had moved to the right during the 1920s,
Gollancz had moved to the left and was now a strong supporter of the
Labour Party. Gollancz had
