Kaye & Ward Ltd. was the publisher of The Railway Series from 1967 until 1988, succeeding its imprint Edmund Ward. It was a subsidiary of William Heinemann from 1984 to 1998.
History
In 1952, Franklyn Edmund Ward sold his eponymous publishing house to the London printers, Straker Brothers Ltd., who had also taken over another small publisher, Nicholas Kaye Limited. The two companies were merged into Kaye & Ward, though they retained the "Edmund Ward" imprint to publish some titles, including the Railway Series.
Starting with Small Railway Engines in 1967, the "Edmund Ward" imprint was dropped and the Railway Series was published directly under the Kaye & Ward name.[1]
William Heinemann acquired the company in 1984, but the "Kaye & Ward" imprint was used until 1988. Heinemann's owner, Octopus Publishing, was acquired by Reed Children's Books in 1987[2].
On 25th April 1998, Reed International sold their children's books division to Egmont UK Limited and the copyright of the Railway Series to the Britt Allcroft Company for £13.5 million.[3][4] Egmont acquired the rights to publish the Railway Series, and in the same year they published the new format versions of series.[5]
Kaye & Ward remains in being as part of Egmont, but is dormant.[6]
Books
- Small Railway Engines (1967)
- Enterprising Engines (1968)
- Oliver the Western Engine (1969)
- Duke the Lost Engine (1970)
- Tramway Engines (1972)
- Really Useful Engines (1983)
- James and the Diesel Engines (1984)
- Great Little Engines (1985)
- More About Thomas the Tank Engine (1986)
- Gordon the High-Speed Engine (1987)
- Toby, Trucks and Trouble (1988)
- Railway Map of the Island of Sodor (1971/1983)
- The Railway Series: Surprise Packet (1972)
- The Rev. W. Awdry's Famous Railway Series Station book box (1980s)
- The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (1987)
- Other Books
- Thomas's Christmas Party (1984)
- Thomas Comes to Breakfast (1985)
- Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree (1986)
- Thomas and the Evil Diesel (1987)
- Pop-Up Books
- Twelve Happy Engines (1970, Published by Nestlé in conjunction with Kaye & Ward.)
Trivia
- The copyright of "Kaye & Ward" was displayed on merchandise, books and Japanese edition of The Railway Series books of the 1980s.
- The stationary items were seen in a 1989 Lewis’s advert.(YouTube)
References
- ↑ Small Railway Engines, 1st edn 1967 - ReproJackets
- ↑ Timeline on Reed Elsevier
- ↑ Egmont Buys Reed Children's Books on Publishers Weekly
- ↑ A Very Important Announcement by the Stationmaster on Reed Children's Books
- ↑ Frequently Asked Questions on Awdry Family Website
- ↑ "Egmont Tax Strategy"