McGill Libraries
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Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Butler & Tanner Ltd.
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1863-1879
History
Butler & Tanner Ltd was Britain’s oldest printing company. William Langford, a chemist, established a small printing business in 1845 in Frome, England. Initially set up for his own printing needs, such as medicine labels and advertising leaflets for the latest pharmaceutical preparations, the press’s output was soon expanded. He had been joined in the business by his friend, William Butler, and the firm was named Langford & Butler. It became the forerunner of the Butler and Tanner partnership. In 1848, Langford retired from the printing side of the business, and Butler was running it alone. In 1863, he was joined in partnership by Joseph Tanner, who invested in new machinery to speed up production and the ability to produce high-quality printing. They became known as Butler & Tanner. The partnership between Butler and Tanner was dissolved in 1868, but their association lasted until 1879.