Michael Joseph

Michael Joseph (26 September 1897 – 15 March 1958) was a British publisher and writer.

Early life and career Joseph was born in Upper Clapton, London. During the First World War, he served as a captain in the Machine Gun Corps and was in the line near Arras. After the war, he embarked on a writing career, his first book being Short Story Writing for Profit (1923).

After a period as a literary agent for Curtis Brown, Joseph founded his own publishing imprint as a subsidiary of Victor Gollancz Ltd. Gollancz invested £4000 in Michael Joseph Ltd, established 5 September 1935.

Death Michael Joseph died of septicaemia in 1958, after a delayed medical operation. He was 60. Penguin turned its new property into one of its imprints, and in 2018, Penguin described Michael Joseph as "he leading commercial fiction and non-fiction imprint of Penguin Books", specialising in "women's fiction, crime, thrillers, cookery, memoirs and lifestyle books".

Books written by Michael Joseph

Short Story Writing for Profit (London: Hutchinson & Co., 1923) Journalism for Profit (1924) D. F. Karaka, Richard Llewellyn, Bertrand Russell, Vita Sackville-West and Derek Tangye.

Book series published by the firm included the Cadet Edition, Carfax Editions, Mermaid Books, The Minack Chronicles, The Rosemary Library and the 6/- Net Edition.