T. Nelson

About T. Nelson

T. Nelson (Thomas Nelson) is a publisher founded in Edinburgh in 1798 by Thomas Nelson Sr. as a second-hand bookshop, which grew into the Scottish firm Thomas Nelson and Sons and is now a Nashville-based Christian publisher owned by HarperCollins.

The business took the name Thomas Nelson and Sons in 1839, opened an American branch in New York in 1854 and in 1915 took over the art publisher T. C. and E. C. Jack. Early authors included Arthur Conan Doyle, and John Buchan worked for the firm until 1929. H. G. Wells's The History of Mr Polly was first published by Thomas Nelson and Sons in 1910.

In 1962 the firm was absorbed into the Thomson Organisation. In 1969 Sam Moore's Royal Publishers bought the company, which moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in the 1970s and became a major Christian publisher whose authors include Billy Graham, Max Lucado and John Eldredge. In 2000 Wolters Kluwer acquired the business and folded its educational arm into Nelson Thornes. InterMedia Partners and other investors bought the American company in 2006, and HarperCollins completed its purchase on 11 July 2012, grouping Thomas Nelson with Zondervan in HarperCollins Christian Publishing.

Because the imprint "T. Nelson" can mean either the Scottish house and the later Nashville company, check the place and date on the title page to tell them apart.