Henry Frowde

British publisher. He managed the Oxford University Press office in London and in 1880 was given the title Publisher to the University. He held this post until c1907, though he remained in an 'advisory' capacity until 1913. He was replaced by Humphrey Milford. As Publisher to the University, Frowde was using his own name as an imprint as well as 'Oxford University Press'. This style persisted till recent times, with two kinds of imprints emanating from the Press's London offices. The distinctions implied by the imprints were 'subtle but important'. Books that London issued on commission (paid for by their authors or by some learned body) were styled 'Henry Frowde', or 'Humphrey Milford' with no mention of OUP, as if the Publisher were issuing them himself, while books that the Publisher issued under the rubric of the university bore the imprint 'Oxford University Press'. Both these categories were mostly handled by London, while Oxford (in practice the Secretary) looked after the Clarendon Press books. Commission books were intended as cash cows to fund the London Business's overheads, since the Press did not lay aside any resources for this purpose.