Murray, John

John Murray is a historic Scottish publishing house founded in London in 1768 by John Murray I (1737–1793). His son, John Murray II (1778–1843), significantly expanded the firm’s influence, publishing literary giants such as Jane Austen, Walter Scott, and Lord Byron—famously destroying Byron’s memoirs to protect his reputation. Under John Murray III (1808–1892), the firm published Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859) and launched the influential Murray’s Handbooks for Travellers in 1836. These authoritative travel guides, filled with scholarly notes and detailed maps, were the forerunners of the modern guidebook and catered to Victorian and Edwardian tourists travelling across Europe, India, Egypt, and Japan. The guidebook series was eventually sold by Sir John Murray IV to Edward Stanford in 1891, and later acquired by James and Findlay Muirhead around 1915. The Muirheads, former editors of Baedeker’s English editions, relaunched the series as the Blue Guides. The John Murray imprint endures to this day.