Tauchnitz and Its Rivals: Competition in the Market for English Language Novels in Continental Europe 1840–1925

There was already a competitive market for English language novels in Continental Europe even before the launch of the Tauchnitz Edition in 1841. The move shortly afterwards by Bernhard Tauchnitz to offer payment to authors in return for authorisation completely outflanked his competitors and anticipated the introduction of copyright legislation from 1846 onwards. For most of the next 80 years, Tauchnitz had a dominant position in the market but was rarely without competitors. Even after the decline of Baudry and Galignani, new competitors including Asher and Heinemann & Balestier came along to challenge Tauchnitz’s position. Then, when war broke out in 1914, other publishers were keen to take advantage of the enforced absence of Tauchnitz from most of its market. In the end, Tauchnitz outlasted all of its competitors in this period, although it emerged greatly weakened after the war. This chapter reviews some of the main competitor firms over the period 1840–1925. It considers their competitive strategies in terms of relationships with authors and selection of titles as well as pricing, design and marketing. It also looks at the response of Tauchnitz and how it was able to protect its position.