Sir Humphrey Milford was an English publisher and editor who from 1913 to 1945 was publisher to the University of Oxford and head of the London operations of Oxford University Press (OUP). He replaced Henry Frowde.
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.
