Unicorn strikes global deal with Royal Museums Greenwich

Unicorn Publishing Group (UPG) has struck a global sales and distribution deal with Royal Museums Greenwich for the organisation’s publishing programme.

Unicorn Sales & Distribution, the marketing arm of Unicorn Publishing Group, will take over all sales and distribution of Royal Museums Greenwich titles from November 2019, with stock being available through Marston Book Services and University of Chicago Press in the US.

Royal Museums Greenwich, which comprises the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory, the clipper ship Cutty Sark and the Queen’s House, currently has ten titles in its publishing programme. Two titles are forthcoming for November 2019 - On the Line: The Story of the Greenwich Meridian by Louise Doherty and Cookery for Seamen by Alexander Quinlan, N.E. Mann and Stawell Heard, librarian at the Caird Library and Archive at the National Maritime Museum. Royal Museums Greenwich plans to publish around ten new titles per year thereafter under the imprints of the National Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory Greenwich.

Kirsty Schaper, publishing manager at Royal Museums Greenwich said: "We are thrilled to be partnering with Unicorn Publishing to bring our titles to new audiences in the UK and in other international markets. Our growing list is diverse with topics ranging from astronomy and time, to art and maritime history, as well as a number of children’s books, so Unicorn Publishing is the perfect avenue for sales and distribution. We look forward to a prosperous collaboration with Unicorn Publishing for many years to come."

Unicorn Publishing Group’s sales director Simon Perks added: "Royal Museums Greenwich has an exciting publishing programme planned and Unicorn Publishing is delighted to be representing them around the world starting in November 2019 with two exciting new titles, On the Line: The Story of the Greenwich Meridian and Cookery for Seamen."

On the Line by senior curator of the Royal Observatory at Royal Museums Greenwich Devoy "reveals why international time standards are based around the Greenwich meridian – Longitude 0o – where east meets west, and the important discoveries made at Greenwich that led to time as we know it." 

Cookery for Seamen offers a "nostalgic insight into the challenges facing the sea-going cook" and contains more than 170 recipes. Quinlan, who was a teacher at the Liverpool City Council Seamen’s Cookery Classes, and Mann, who was headteacher of the Liverpool Training School of Cookery, were at the forefront of cookery training for seamen. This facsimile (originally published in 1894) contains a brief introduction to the authors and the difficulties faced by cooks at sea with limited or rationed ingredients and restricted equipment. Both titles will be published in hardback on 28th November.