Quick Facts
Biography
Thomas Werner Laurie (1866–1944) was a London publisher of books that were avant-garde in some cases, racy in others.
Early life
Laurie was born in Edinburgh. His father was a Scot and his mother a German.
Career
He founded his T. Werner Laurie Ltd. publishing house in 1904 and was known for publishing the works of Yeats, Wilde, and Moore as well as other authors of lesser renown.
Book series published by the firm included T. Francis Bumpus's Cathedral Series, and the House Decoration Series.
He published The Jungle by Upton Sinclair when that work had been rejected for publication in England by other publishers, and Sinclair stayed with Laurie for many years in gratitude, publishing The World's End and other novels inSinclair's Lanny Budd series.
Other books issued in the firm's eclectic publishing programme included The Encyclopaedia of Sex and The History of Torture through the Ages.
In 1946, after Laurie's death, his publishing firm was purchased by the financier Clarence Hatry and it continued to operate in premises above Hatchards booksellers at 187 Piccadilly, London, with George Greenfield as the manager.
Personal life
Thomas Werner Laurie married twice. His second wife was (Elizabeth Mary) Beatrice (born 1895). Their daughter, Joan Werner Laurie (1920–1964), edited She, a periodical for women.