Introduction

In commissioning this contribution on John Hicks and his publishers the editors of this volume sought insights on a number of issues: how Hicks presented his work to publishers – i.e. the extent to which he tried to relate each new book proposal to his previous work; what he felt about the work of others, and especially Erik Lindahl and Knut Wicksell; and why he occasionally published with other publishers. What follows sheds some light on the first and last of these issues but, apart from the passing 1936 comment about the Swedes quoted below, no light at all on the Scandinavian issue.

Hicks's first book, The Theory of Wages, was published in 1932 by Macmillan. By 1939, however, Hicks had turned to Oxford University Press (henceforth OUP) for the publication of Value and Capital, and OUP published most of his subsequent books, though there was an interlude in the 1970s and early 1980s when Basil Blackwell published some Hicks titles. In total Hicks published twenty books, including three volumes of Collected Essays. The Theory of Wages and Value and Capital both went into second editions and The Social Framework had four editions, as well as separate American and Indian editions, a Japanese version, and a Japanese translation of the English version. That amounts to a substantial output, and OUP, who published the majority, can reasonably claim to be Hicks's main publisher.

Macmillan

Be that as it may, Hicks's publishing history started with Macmillan.