The firm was founded in 1821 by
Thomas Clark,[2] then aged 22 and who had a
Free Church of Scotland background. The company was originally concerned with law and foreign literature and published under the name of "Thomas Clark".
He was joined in a partnership in 1846 by his nephew, also named Thomas Clark.[2] With the arrival of younger Thomas Clark (1823-1900) the firm began issuing works under the name of "T. & T. Clark".[3]
In the 1830s, it began to develop a
theology list, taking a progressive
evangelical stance and at times, publishing books that were not likely to make a profit. It published work by scholars in both Europe and North America.[2] Its most substantial projects were the English translation of the Ante-Nicene Fathers (which the firm titled Ante-Nicene Christian Library) and the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. These were only viable because of the existence of a large American market; however, in the 1880s the firm got into a dispute with the
Fleming H. Revell Company, over the American firm's copyright violation of some of T&T Clark's titles. The Ante-Nicene Library was bootlegged by the
Christian Literature Publishing Company, based in
New York City,
New York. However, this did not prevent T&T Clark from doing business with them.[4]
^
abcdAbout T & T Clark, Continuum International Publishing Group, archive.ph. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
^The T. & T. Clark Story: A Victorian Publisher and the New Theology : with an Epilogue Covering the Twentieth-century History of the Firm, Edinburgh: Pentland Press, 1992, p. 3.
^The T. & T. Clark Story: A Victorian Publisher and the New Theology : with an Epilogue Covering the Twentieth-century History of the Firm, Edinburgh: Pentland Press, 1992, p. 108ff.
^E. F. C. Rosenmüller, The Biblical Geography of Asia Minor, Phœnicia, and Arabia, Edinburgh: Thomas Clark, 1841 (The Biblical Cabinet or, Hermeneutical, Exegetical and Philological Library, Vol. XXXIV). N. Morren, tr. Retrieved 3 December 2022.