Alexander Macmillan, born in Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. He was a cofounder, in 1843, with his brother Daniel

Daniel MacMillan

Daniel MacMillan was a Scottish publisher from the Isle of Arran, Scotland.Daniel MacMillan was born in the Isle of Arran to a crofting family...

 of Macmillan Publishers

Macmillan Publishers

Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...

. His family were croft

Croft

Croft may refer to: * Croft, an area of land with a crofter's dwelling, used for crofting .* Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, sometimes called crofts.Locations in the United Kingdom:...

ers from the Isle of Arran

Isle of Arran

Arran or the Isle of Arran is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, and with an area of is the seventh largest Scottish island. It is in the unitary council area of North Ayrshire and the 2001 census had a resident population of 5,058...

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Alexander was the partner who developed the literary reputation of the company while Daniel took charge of the business and commercial side.
Originally called Macmillan & Co., the firm started as a successful bookshop in Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

. The brothers soon started publishing books as well as selling them. After Daniel's death in 1857, Alexander continued to run the firm. He expanded the company into a worldwide organization and also started publishing magazines, including the prestigious scientific journal Nature

Nature (journal)

Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...

. Macmillan assigned George Edward Brett

George Edward Brett

George Edward Brett opened the first American office of Macmillan Publishing called Macmillan & Co. of New York.-Career:Brett was assigned by Alexander Macmillan to create the New York Office in August 1869. Brett was aided in the creation of the New York office, by American firm Messrs Pott &...

 to create the New York office in August 1869 and hired American firm Messrs. Pott & Amery to assist in the marketing and distribution of Macmillan's books.

Alexander's brother Daniel was grandfather of Harold Macmillan

Harold Macmillan

Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....

, who became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

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Additional Resources

• Elizabeth James (2002) Macmillan: A Publishing Tradition ISBN 0-333-73517-X .
• Charles Morgan (1943) The House of Macmillan (1843-1943) Macmillan.