Spring Cannot be Cancelled book - Thames & Hudson

David Hockney reflects on life and art while experiencing lockdown in rural Normandy

The history of Thames & Hudson

Walter Neurath was born in Vienna in 1903. In 1938, he left his hometown—where he ran an art gallery and published illustrated books—for London. Initially, he worked as a production director at Adprint, a company founded by Viennese émigré Wolfgang Foges. Neurath and Foges developed the pioneering concept of what is now called book packaging (or co-edition publishing), where book ideas are developed, commissioned, produced, and sold to publishers operating in different markets and languages to create large print runs, thereby reducing unit production costs. Neurath's concept was the first of many innovations he introduced to the publishing world through Thames & Hudson.

Wishing to continue book packaging in a second edition and recognizing the need to amortize the high production costs of illustrated books, Neurath founded his own publishing house, with offices in London and New York in the autumn of 1949. Eva Neurath, who had arrived in London from Berlin in 1939, was a co-founder.

Of the ten titles published on the first Thames & Hudson list in 1950, English Cathedrals, with photographs by Martin Hürlimann, was the first and most successful. A testament to the company's strong belief in the longevity of books from the very beginning, it remained in print until 1971. The first year of publication also saw "Out of My Later Years" by Albert Einstein, an early indicator of the program's breadth. As the list gradually and successfully expanded, growing from ten titles in 1950 to 144 in 1955, the company moved its offices to High Holborn and in 1956 relocated to a Georgian townhouse at 30 Bloomsbury Street, near Bedford Square, then the epicenter of book publishing in London. The operation remained at this address, eventually expanding to five houses, until 1999, when it returned to High Holborn.

In 1958, Thames and Hudson launched one of its most famous series, World of Art, which became the foundation of a very diverse list. Characterized by their pocket size and black spines, the series expanded in just seven years to include 49 titles. Nearly 60 years later, the series features over 300 titles, with, according to Christopher Frayling, "paint-splattered copies in every art school in the country."

Other important series that added depth and prestige to the list include Ancient People and Places, edited by Glyn Daniel, which since the 1950s has contributed to pioneering interest in archaeology, both in book form and on television. Over 34 titles were published in the series over 34 years. The large-format series Great Civilizations, published in 1961, featured contributions from such esteemed scholars as Alan Bullock, Asa Briggs, Hugh Trevor-Roper, A. J. P. Taylor, and John Julius Norwich.
After building one of the most important publishing houses in Europe in less than two decades, Walter Neurath died in 1967 at the age of 63. Sculptor Henry Moore wrote that "his death was a loss to our cultural life." Sir Herbert Read noted that Neurath "more than any other person was responsible for the revolution in publishing art books" and was "one of those rare entrepreneurs who successfully combined business acumen with idealism." Eva Neurath became chairwoman. Walter's son, Thomas, who joined the company with his sister Constance in 1961, became managing director; Constance later served as art director for several decades. Both Thomas and Constance remain on the board of Thames & Hudson, as do Thomas's daughters, Johanna and Susanna.
From producing the first commercial edition of The Book of Kells to the triumphant publication of the six-volume Vincent van Gogh—The Letters, from such technical innovations as "French folds" to the controversial documentation of graffiti art in Subway Art, Thames and Hudson has always been at the forefront, both culturally and in production techniques.

2016 opened an extraordinary new chapter for the company, heralding a publishing partnership with two of the world's most important museums: the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The world of art and scholarship thus remains at the heart of Thames & Hudson's publishing program, which stays true to its core principle: providing a "museum without walls."
Today, Thames & Hudson is a recognizable international brand, symbolizing English publishing. Their extensive range includes thousands of intriguing book titles, many of which are luxury collector's books.