W. S. Cowell Ltd.
W.S. Cowell Ltd was a British printing company that produced a variety of books, including popular children's literature of the 1930's and prestigious coffee table books. Established in 1818, the company name was dropped by its corporate owner in 1988.
In 1818, A.K.Cowell, a corn merchant from Ipswich, England, set up his second son, Samuel Harrison Cowell as a printer and stationer at No 10 in the Buttermarket in Ipswich. As well as selling books, Samuel Cowell also sold tea, coffee and wine.
In 1875, W. S. Cowell inherited the business and appointed W.B.Hanson to handle the printing work. When the firm was incorporated in 1900, both W.B.Hanson and his son H.Hanson had significant share holdings. When W.S.Cowell died in 1923, the Hanson family acquired the business. At that time, it contained a retail store, a bar, a wine and spirits business and the printing works.
During the 1930's, the W.S. Cowell firm printed children's book series such as Babar the Elephant, Little Tim and Orlando. The firm was able to offer high colour printing. W. S. Cowell printed prestigious works such as The Queen's Stamps and The Wild Flowers of America
In 1963, Grampian Holdings acquired W.S.Cowell Ltd. E.H.Hanson and R.G.Smith continued to manage the company until 1968. The printing operations were moved out of the Buttermarket to Lovetofts Drive in 1986. In 1988 the company merged with San Serif Ltd. and the title W.S.Cowell Ltd. was dropped.[1]
Origins
.[2]
References
- "Cowells, Printers, Ipswich". Discovery. The National Archive. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
- Burrows, Mike J. "Ipswich Firms Philatelic Links" (PDF). perfinsoc. The Perfin Society. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
3. E.H.Hanson - W.S.Cowell Ltd Ipswich Historical Notes - Ipswich Archive Office.