The literary agent is a recent addition to the publishing industry, yet in a relatively short space of time has become instrumental in the production of literature. This paper examines the origins and development of the A. P. Watt Literary Agency to explore how it became a dominant organization in the late nineteenth century. The paper analyses how its founder Alexander Pollock Watt despite being met with resistance, gained legitimacy to be accepted by authors and publishers. Through an analysis of historical sources this paper argues that by using contract law, Watt was able to disrupt existing business practices.

This paper examines how the gentlemen's club was a space for facilitating business activities in the Victorian publishing industry. They blurred the boundaries between the social and professional sphere, to the point that many used the club as hub for networking and for providing opportunities. The gentlemen's clubs of London have been examined within gender studies and in studies on social culture, where emphasis has been placed on its role in elite and middle-class society and its influence on gender and class inequality. However, little attention has been dedicated in academic business research to the club's influence on shaping the activities of businesses in the publishing industry. By exploring how individuals engaged with so called "club life," it is possible to analyze the dynamics of how and why gentlemen's clubs were important to literary businesses. Through an exploration of narrative and documentary archival sources, this paper explores the perspective and choices of individuals working in the publishing industry, and the extent to which their choices in business were governed by the cultural influences of the gentlemen's club.

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This is a case study of the U.S. pharmaceutical producer, Merck & Co. By 1940 this was one of the leading pharmaceutical producers in the United States, and the company went on to become one of the global industry leaders after World War II. It was founded in 1891 as the U.S. subsidiary of a much larger German pharmaceutical company, E. Merck of Darmstadt. The existing understanding of Merck & Co.’s history emphasizes how it was reacquired by the American branch of the Merck family after wartime sequestration, and from then onward it pursued a path of development separate from its former parent. This article revisits that history of the company and shows how the two Mercks began to cooperate and share technology and manufacturing know-how during the 1930s, something that was particularly to the advantage of Merck & Co.