Swan Sonnenschein & Co.

William Swan Sonnenschein was born in 1855, third of the six children of Adolphus Sonnenschein, a teacher and writer of textbooks originally from Moravia, and his first wife Sarah Robinson Stallybrass. William's name derived from the fact that his maternal grandfather, Edward Stallybrass, had been a missionary to Mongolia with William Swan and they worked on a Mongolian translation of the New Testament together.

As a young man William was apprenticed to the firm of Williams and Norgate where he gained experience of second hand bookselling before founding his own company, W. Swan Sonnenschein & Allen, with the first of several partners, J. Archibald Allen, in 1878. This partnership was dissolved in 1882 when William married and the firm's name changed to W Swan Sonnenschein & Co. The firm published general literature and periodicals but specialised in sociology and politics. Sonnenschein was involved with the Ethical Society and published their literature.

...