....read modern languages at Cambridge, studied for the bar and then worked as an assistant at Harrods book department. He had rowed for the British Olympic Eight and won a silver medal at the Amsterdam Olympics in 1928....
The combination of friends and books was an essential part of Jamie’s [Hamish's] life as a publisher. Authors, and colleagues....became close friends. However as well as having great friendships, Jamie was also capable of intense hatred for his enemies and would refuse to enter a room if someone he disliked was there. His attitude towards publishing was very personal and to lose an author to another publisher was a personal tragedy, even if he remained on good terms with the author. Jamie would be dismayed too, by an unfavourable reception of the books he published, which he usually chose himself and in which he firmly believed... The first book to be published by Hamish Hamilton was Time Was, the reminiscences of W. Graham Robertson, a man who in the years between 1890 and 1910 was friend and confidant to many celebrities including Rossetti and Wilde. The book remained in print until 1981, but no one could have called this a spectacular launch, ... Soon, there were a number of major additions to the list including John Dickson Carr, Lillian Hellman, R. K. Narayan and Angela Thirkell. In non-fiction the most enduring author from that first decade was John Gunther, whose Inside Europe and, subsequently, ....The High Cost of Hitler set the agenda for the appeasement debate of the late 1930s, and were huge bestsellers. By the end of the decade, Jamie had established a distinctive and successful company with a character and special brand of publishing that have endured to the present day. Because of strong links with the States, Hamish Hamilton became a major publisher of important American authors, such as Raymond Chandler and James Thurber. Chandler was to become a close friend of Jamie, relying on him greatly in his dark periods of depression....
[By the 1940s] Hamish Hamilton’s offices were at 90 Great Russell Street, at the heart of the literary world in Bloomsbury. Life in Great Russell Street was not uneventful. In Roger Machell’s words, ‘We’ve had our occasional dramas – the time for instance, when our old office in Great Russell Street burned down and Stanley Unwin (one of the company’s biggest rivals) rang Jamie’s house at nine o’clock on a Saturday morning. ”Hamilton,” he said, “I know most publishers don’t go to their offices on Saturday mornings. Well, I do and I thought I should tell you that yours seems to have been on fire all night. Let me know if I can lend you some typewriters or anything. Goodbye.”’ Jamie had to call the fire brigade before rushing to the scene. Luckily the damage was only minor.’
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The late 1940s and 50s were great years for Hamish Hamilton. In 1940 Jamie had married Yvonne Pallavicino and their home in Hamilton Terrace became a haven for authors and international publishers. The Hamiltons of Hamilton Terrace were famous hosts and their dinner parties did much to lure and cement authors to the firm.
These were the years in which Hamish Hamilton published A. J. P Taylor, D. W. Brogan, Alan Moorehead, Terence Rattigan, Nancy Mitford and the great French existentialists Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Georges Simenon, who was to become a close family friend of the Hamiltons, with two of his novels being translated by Jamie’s son Alistair, also began his prodigious output during these years. .....
Throughout the 1950s the list grew richer and stronger. L.P. Hartley’s outstanding The Go-Between was published in 1953 and Raymond Chandler’s books continued to enjoy enormous success. One of his many fans was Truman Capote, who sent this cable to Hamilton in 1958: ‘See in the paper you have published a new Raymond Chandler. I wish you would be so kind as to send it – I’m a fan,’ and then another: ‘Bless you for the Chandler; so sorry Marlowe is getting married: great mistake.’ After his collection of short stories and a novella, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which was to become a memorable film with Audrey Hepburn, Capote branched into something completely different. In Cold Blood was based on a true murder story. Hamilton’s reaction when he saw the manuscript was typically effusive. ....
In 1974 Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson, who had been an editor with the firm for thirteen years, became managing director. He rapidly established a close-knit and successful team, and developed an unrivalled reputation for looking after his authors. This instilled an enduring loyalty and deep affection for both the man and the company....[The authors include names like] Paul Theroux ....and Peter Ackroyd.
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[This level of quality continues today] Hamish Hamilton ... had books shortlisted for or win the Man Booker Prize four years running from 2004 to 2008....
As an example of what it means for a publisher to take care of his authors, we notice a condolence letter Hamilton wrote to Raymond Chandler when Chandler's black Persian Taki, died. We do not have Hamilton's letter, but we have Chandler's reply to Hamish Hamilton, a letter dated February 5, 1951:
Thank you for all you say about cats and your friends who are cat lovers....
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