About Rex Collings
Lived 1925 – 1996 (aged 70–71). Rex Collings was a publisher.
Gustav Rex Collings (18 June 1925 – 23 May 1996) was an English publisher who specialized in books relating to Africa and children's books. He ensured the publication of Wole Soyinka's plays, and was the first to publish Watership Down by Richard Adams.
Collings started at Penguin before moving to Oxford University Press, where he established the Three Crowns Series for books on African subjects. He then moved to Methuen before setting up his own publishing company, Rex Collings Ltd. He risked his own money in publishing Watership Down, which around thirty publishers had turned down.
He was the Liberal Party candidate for Portsmouth Langstone constituency at the 1964 general election and North Norfolk in 1979.
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Important facts
People in Rex Collings's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Rex Collings's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Rex Collings?
English publisher
When was Rex Collings born?
Rex Collings was born in 1925.
When did Rex Collings die?
Rex Collings died in 1996.
What was Rex Collings's occupation?
Rex Collings was a publisher.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Rex Collings. https://biography.guide/rex-collings/
MLA: "Rex Collings." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/rex-collings/.
Chicago: "Rex Collings." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/rex-collings/.
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