Routledge is a British publishing house that has operated under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge. He later founded a publishing company in partnership in 1851 with his brother-in-law, first formally incorporated under the name George Routledge & Co. For the remainder of the century the firm continued to grow and expand its range of popular illustrated fiction, travel and reference titles, undergoing some further partnership and name changes in the process. However by 1902 the company was running close to bankruptcy, but following a successful restructuring was able to recover and began to acquire and merge with other publishing companies. These early 20th-century acquisitions and mergers brought with them lists of notable scholarly titles, and it is from 1912 onwards as Routledge & Kegan Paul that the company became increasingly concentrated on and involved with the academic and scholarly publishing arena. It was soon particularly known for its titles in the social sciences fields.
In 1985 Routledge & Kegan Paul joined with Associated Book Publishers (ABP), which was later acquired by International Thomson in 1987. Under Thomson's ownership Routledge's name and operations were retained, and in 1996 a management buyout financed by the European private equity firm Cinven saw Routledge operating as an independent concern once more. Two years later in 1998 Cinven and Routledge's directors accepted a deal for Routledge's acquisition by Taylor & Francis Group (T&F), with the Routledge name being retained as an imprint and subdivision. In 2004 T&F became a division within Informa plc after a merger; Routledge continues as a publishing arm and imprint under the T&F division, with a majority of its titles' range issued as academic humanities and social sciences books.
As a name in Camden publishing, it originates in 1836, when George Routledge (1812–1888) founded a firm with W. H. Warne. George Routledge and Co. was set up in 1851 with Frederick Warne, becoming Routledge, Warne & Routledge in 1858, and George Routledge and Sons when Warne left. After refinancing in 1902, the company took over J. C. Nimmo Ltd in 1903. In 1912 an amalgamation with Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. created Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd., a major London publishing house. Taylor & Francis bought Routledge in 1998.