Reginald Ashley Caton was an English publisher, variously described as 'eccentric', 'raffish', a 'miser

Miser

A miser, cheapskate, snipe-snout, penny pincher, piker, scrooge, skinflint or tightwad is a person who is reluctant to spend money, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts and some necessities...

' and a 'rogue publisher'. He appears as a literary character, especially in novels by Kingsley Amis

Kingsley Amis

Sir Kingsley William Amis, CBE was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, various short stories, radio and television scripts, along with works of social and literary criticism...

.

He founded in 1924 the Fortune Press, initially as a small press

Small press

Small press is a term often used to describe publishers with annual sales below a certain level. Commonly, in the United States, this is set at $50 million, after returns and discounts...

 specialising in gay

Gay

Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

 erotica

Erotica

Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...

. He was prosecuted in 1934 for obscene libel

Obscene libel

The publication of an obscene libel was an offence under the common law of England. Prior to the abolition by of the Criminal Law Act 1967 of the distinction between felony and misdemeanour, it was regarded as a misdemeanour...

.

In the end, according to the standard bibliography

Bibliography

Bibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...

, Caton had published 600 books, perhaps outgrowing the adjective 'small'. Many of these are of literary interest, produced by the circumstance that paper was in short supply as soon as World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 started; and Fortune Press had hoarded stocks. Much of the regular magazine publishing of poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

, in particular, had to shut down.

Caton is celebrated for obtaining the rights to Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas

Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...

's 18 Poems at this period, with repercussions for the poet. During the war years he first rejected Philip Larkin

Philip Larkin

Philip Arthur Larkin, CH, CBE, FRSL is widely regarded as one of the great English poets of the latter half of the twentieth century...

's first novel Jill (for obscenity), but finally published it in 1946, as he did his poetry collection, The North Ship. Caton also published, for example, Nicholas Moore

Nicholas Moore

Nicholas Moore was an English poet, associated with the New Apocalyptics in the 1940s, who later dropped out of the literary world.Moore was born in Cambridge, England; his father was the philosopher G. E. Moore...

, and Wrenne Jarman. Experts have concluded that there was no literary, rather than business, consistency.

The Fortune Press was sold to Leonard Holdsworth, of The Charles Skilton Publishing Group.