About Us
Although we are a newly formed publishing house, our heraldic shield, which forms part of our logo, bears witness to the fascinating and literary history of the family of the Press’s founder, Victor Bingham.
The Bingham family traces its roots back to Saxon times when in the late 1200s Robert de Bingham married into the Turberville family of Dorset, immortalised in the Thomas Hardy classic, Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
Throughout their history, the Bingham family have become adventurers, antiquaries, scholars, poets and renowned writers. Four successful writers are part of the family:
Hiram Bingham was the noted explorer and historian who discovered the famous Inca city of Machu Picchu, and wrote the definitive treatise on the site in his 1930 book, Machu Picchu: A Citadel of the Incas.
John Bingham is believed to be the special agent turned crime writer on whom J D Salinger based his novel Catcher in the Rye. He himself is known for, amongst other titles, My Name is Michael Sibley, Five Roundabouts to Heaven, The Third Skin, A Fragment of Fear, The Double Agent, The Paton Street Case and Night’s Black Agent.
His daughter, the Honourable Charlotte Mary Therese, is a well-known authoress and television writer. Her books include, Coronets Amongst the Weeds, Coronets Amongst the Grass, Belgravia, Country Life, To Hear a Nightingale and The Business. Her most notable television script is the well-known Upstairs Downstairs.
The fourth author of note is Robert Bingham, whose celebrated first novel, Lightning on the Sun (Canongate, 2000), was an immediate success.