Révai brothers literary institute ltd
The predecessor of the later Révai Brothers Ltd. was founded in 1859 by Leó and Samuel Rosenberg (Révai) in Eperjes. Ten years later, in 1869, they opened a shop in Pest, in the same building as the Franklin Company's shop on Egyetem Street, selling antiquarian and new edition books. After the establishment, Samuel's sons Mór and Ödön took over the business in the 1880s and started to revive it, before changing to a joint-stock company on 26 May 1895. The new company was financed by the Belvárosi Savings Bank.
Mór and Ödön Révai have guided the company with great flair during these decades. As Attila András Szabó writes: "In the Hungarian book market, our printers and publishers have had a small presence in book distribution. The vast majority of printed works reached Hungarian readers through foreign book distributors. The Révai brothers realised this shortcoming and planned to develop their business by creating a more balanced book market. Maintaining their publishing operations, they set about building a network of booksellers with nationwide coverage. By the 1890s, their six travelling salesmen had established close business relationships with some 6,500 local booksellers and 500 casinos and clubs. Their business philosophy was novel: 'it is unnecessary to discuss the enormous advantages of the producer (in this case the publisher) coming into contact with the public himself and selling his products directly, rather than through booksellers [...] only he who is in constant contact with the public at large and who is constantly aware of what the public wants and how it wants it, can carry on publishing successfully and safely. Only those who are in contact with the lively, bustling life can carry on this business with security, because only those who are informed of the measures of demand will be able to satisfy the need in any field in an adequate manner" - extract from the draft of the company's foundation in 1894 (MNL OL Z 718 item 1 - Foundation drafts.)"
They are also credited with the publication of the twenty-one volumes of the series The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in Writing and Images between 1884 and 1901, in the editing and distribution of which Mór Jókai also played an influential role as editor-in-chief of the Vasárnapi Újság. In addition, they signed a life-long contract with several famous writers, including Jókai, to publish all their works. "However, the best known Révai publication for the reading public is Révai's Great Encyclopaedia. The publishing rights to the Pallas Encyclopaedia, previously published by Pallas Literary and Printing Company between 1893 and 1897, were acquired by Révai Brothers Ltd. in October 1899. The last volume of the series, volume XII, was published in 1908. In 1910, Mór Révai began the greatest work of his life: the publication of a modernised version of the Pallas lexicon. The original idea was that the Révai lexicon would consist of eighteen volumes. To write each of the headings, he enlisted the most respected authorities of the day. The volumes of the lexicon were published over a period of sixteen years, the last, Volume XX, being published shortly after Mór Révai's death in 1926."
The joint-stock company was founded in 1895 with a capital of K 800 000, and the board of directors included such great names as Dr. Mór Jókai, Zsolt Beöthy, Kálmán Mikszáth, Ferenc Székely, Gyula Adler, Dr. Alfréd Ardó, Dr. Samu Bleuer, Mór Révai and Ödön Révay. Due to the predictable operation, the company was profitable from the very beginning, with a stable annual profit of nearly 90 000-100 000 crowns, in addition to the establishment of Kazinczy Buchkereskedő Rt, Korvin Mátyás Transylvanian Buchkereskedő Rt, Minerva Buchkereskedő Rt, and the acquisition of the Bratislava company Stampfel Károly and the textbook publishing company Dobrowsky and Franke.
Except for the Franklin lawsuit (see more here: Rózsafalvi 2022), there was no significant change in the company's financials from what was reported until the post-war inflation of the crown, when Révai, like all other companies, was recapitalised, at least in nominal terms. In 1917 they bought the Hungarian Printing and Publishing Company Ltd and in 1923 they founded the Wendt Brothers Business Book Factory and Lining Institute Ltd, which they absorbed in 1924, while at the same time they took over the Universitas Publishing Company Ltd.
In 1925, the company's share capital was set at 600 000 pence, and by 1928 it had reached a profit of around P 000 (it had never made a loss). The Great Depression hit in 1931, when profits fell to P3,451, and in 1932, for the first time in their existence, they were loss-making (P120,602). Meanwhile, their losses reached P923 429 in 1935. From this pit they could not recover until and during the war. By 1942, their accumulated total losses had reached a deficit of 4 million pence, and in 1943, in the last financial year published in Compasses, they returned to profitability with a modest profit of 13,000 pence. After the war, it was absorbed into the Popular Book Publishing Company when it was nationalised in 1949. Then, at the change of regime, Szépirodalmi Könykiadó was broken up and Révai Kiadó Kft was taken over by an Anglo-Hungarian joint venture, which was liquidated in 2015.
Sources:
https://adt.arcanum.com/hu/collection/MagyarCompass/
Rózsafalvi, Zsuzsanna: The Révai Brothers and the "capitalist book literature". In András, Csaba; Hites, Sándor (eds.) Capitalism and the History of Literature. Budapest, Hungary : Reciti Kiadó (2022) 169-184.
120 years of the Révai Brothers Literary Institute Ltd. | Hungarian National Archives (gov.hu)
Founded in 1895
Date of cessation: 1949
Founders are not set
Securities issued:
| Révai brothers literary institute ltd |
Decisive leaders:
1895-1922 | Mór Révai |
1895-1931 | Ödön Révai |
1932-1940 | Dr. András Révai |
Main activity not set
Main products are not set
Seats are not configured
Locations are not set
Main milestones are not set
Author: by Dr. Márton Pelles
Founded in 1895
Founders are not set
Decisive leaders:
1895-1922 | Mór Révai |
1895-1931 | Ödön Révai |
1932-1940 | Dr. András Révai |
Main activity not set
Main products are not set
Seats are not configured
Locations are not set
Main milestones are not set
Author: by Dr. Márton Pelles
Révai brothers literary institute ltd
The predecessor of the later Révai Brothers Ltd. was founded in 1859 by Leó and Samuel Rosenberg (Révai) in Eperjes. Ten years later, in 1869, they opened a shop in Pest, in the same building as the Franklin Company's shop on Egyetem Street, selling antiquarian and new edition books. After the establishment, Samuel's sons Mór and Ödön took over the business in the 1880s and started to revive it, before changing to a joint-stock company on 26 May 1895. The new company was financed by the Belvárosi Savings Bank.
Mór and Ödön Révai have guided the company with great flair during these decades. As Attila András Szabó writes: "In the Hungarian book market, our printers and publishers have had a small presence in book distribution. The vast majority of printed works reached Hungarian readers through foreign book distributors. The Révai brothers realised this shortcoming and planned to develop their business by creating a more balanced book market. Maintaining their publishing operations, they set about building a network of booksellers with nationwide coverage. By the 1890s, their six travelling salesmen had established close business relationships with some 6,500 local booksellers and 500 casinos and clubs. Their business philosophy was novel: 'it is unnecessary to discuss the enormous advantages of the producer (in this case the publisher) coming into contact with the public himself and selling his products directly, rather than through booksellers [...] only he who is in constant contact with the public at large and who is constantly aware of what the public wants and how it wants it, can carry on publishing successfully and safely. Only those who are in contact with the lively, bustling life can carry on this business with security, because only those who are informed of the measures of demand will be able to satisfy the need in any field in an adequate manner" - extract from the draft of the company's foundation in 1894 (MNL OL Z 718 item 1 - Foundation drafts.)"
They are also credited with the publication of the twenty-one volumes of the series The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in Writing and Images between 1884 and 1901, in the editing and distribution of which Mór Jókai also played an influential role as editor-in-chief of the Vasárnapi Újság. In addition, they signed a life-long contract with several famous writers, including Jókai, to publish all their works. "However, the best known Révai publication for the reading public is Révai's Great Encyclopaedia. The publishing rights to the Pallas Encyclopaedia, previously published by Pallas Literary and Printing Company between 1893 and 1897, were acquired by Révai Brothers Ltd. in October 1899. The last volume of the series, volume XII, was published in 1908. In 1910, Mór Révai began the greatest work of his life: the publication of a modernised version of the Pallas lexicon. The original idea was that the Révai lexicon would consist of eighteen volumes. To write each of the headings, he enlisted the most respected authorities of the day. The volumes of the lexicon were published over a period of sixteen years, the last, Volume XX, being published shortly after Mór Révai's death in 1926."
The joint-stock company was founded in 1895 with a capital of K 800 000, and the board of directors included such great names as Dr. Mór Jókai, Zsolt Beöthy, Kálmán Mikszáth, Ferenc Székely, Gyula Adler, Dr. Alfréd Ardó, Dr. Samu Bleuer, Mór Révai and Ödön Révay. Due to the predictable operation, the company was profitable from the very beginning, with a stable annual profit of nearly 90 000-100 000 crowns, in addition to the establishment of Kazinczy Buchkereskedő Rt, Korvin Mátyás Transylvanian Buchkereskedő Rt, Minerva Buchkereskedő Rt, and the acquisition of the Bratislava company Stampfel Károly and the textbook publishing company Dobrowsky and Franke.
Except for the Franklin lawsuit (see more here: Rózsafalvi 2022), there was no significant change in the company's financials from what was reported until the post-war inflation of the crown, when Révai, like all other companies, was recapitalised, at least in nominal terms. In 1917 they bought the Hungarian Printing and Publishing Company Ltd and in 1923 they founded the Wendt Brothers Business Book Factory and Lining Institute Ltd, which they absorbed in 1924, while at the same time they took over the Universitas Publishing Company Ltd.
In 1925, the company's share capital was set at 600 000 pence, and by 1928 it had reached a profit of around P 000 (it had never made a loss). The Great Depression hit in 1931, when profits fell to P3,451, and in 1932, for the first time in their existence, they were loss-making (P120,602). Meanwhile, their losses reached P923 429 in 1935. From this pit they could not recover until and during the war. By 1942, their accumulated total losses had reached a deficit of 4 million pence, and in 1943, in the last financial year published in Compasses, they returned to profitability with a modest profit of 13,000 pence. After the war, it was absorbed into the Popular Book Publishing Company when it was nationalised in 1949. Then, at the change of regime, Szépirodalmi Könykiadó was broken up and Révai Kiadó Kft was taken over by an Anglo-Hungarian joint venture, which was liquidated in 2015.
Sources:
https://adt.arcanum.com/hu/collection/MagyarCompass/
Rózsafalvi, Zsuzsanna: The Révai Brothers and the "capitalist book literature". In András, Csaba; Hites, Sándor (eds.) Capitalism and the History of Literature. Budapest, Hungary : Reciti Kiadó (2022) 169-184.
120 years of the Révai Brothers Literary Institute Ltd. | Hungarian National Archives (gov.hu)