Edwin Brett

Edwin John Brett (1828–1895) was a Victorian editor and publisher of boys' magazines, romantic fiction and "penny dreadfuls" who pioneered the weekly format of serialised and sensational fiction.

Career Brett entered into an informal partnership with Ebenezer Landells (1808-1860), the Newcastle artist engraver, small publisher and one of the moving forces behind the satirical magazine Punch. which folded the following year. Later that year he signed the adventure novelist Captain Thomas Mayne Reid as a regular contributor following his bankruptcy. In 1868 Brett targeted a slightly older readership with Young Men of Great Britain, a 'healthy, moral, instructive and amusing companion for every age', which lasted four years. In the 1870s Brett expanded into popular romantic fiction with titles such as Wedding Bells (1870–79), Something to Read (1881–99), English Ladies' Novelettes (1891–2) and Princesses' Novelettes (1893-1904).

After a long illness Brett died at Burleigh House on 15 December 1895, leaving an estate worth £76,538 to his nine children. The majority of his publishing empire was left to his eldest sons, Edwin Charles and Edgar Percy, who continued to manage its titles until the business collapsed in 1909.

Brett was buried in the family vault in Highgate cemetery on 19 December 1895.