Bulwark 6: Bulwark Publications History
Bulwark Publications-A History
Bromley Kharm came to the American Colonies in 1679 as an importer of British goods (via his family’s many businesses in England). His business and family prospered, and he died succeeded by four sons and five daughters (all of whom had equally sizable families). By 1756, his great-grandson August established a printing-house in Boston and named it Bulwark Press.
“A Treatise on the Natives along the Allegheny,” an eight-page pamphlet by Samuel Alriss, became the first publication from Bulwark Press in early October 1756. There are three extant and complete copies on display at requisite Bulwark Publications headquarters in Toronto, London, and Chicago and another copy owned by the Kharm family at their English estate. Five known copies remain in private hands, while another nine exist at Oxford and various Ivy League colleges. The last time a copy came to auction in 1997, the “Treatise” sold for $38,000 to an unknown buyer.
During the rise toward American independence, many younger Kharms supported or actually became Sons of Liberty (including Lincoln, August’s nephew, and his children). Many others (including the related Hullark and Arlan clans) remained loyal to the British Crown and emigrated among various Canadian provinces by 1772. Family skills and traditions stayed strong, and the Hullarks remained printers and publishers with Guardian Publishing.
In 1843, the last British Kharm relation died without issue, leaving the eldest of the North American Kharms-Barnett Kharm, age 52-a baron’s title and manor (Geneva House manor outside of Chichester, Sussex) with additional properties and lands around the United Kingdom. While his two elder sons remained in Canada with their printing business, Barnett and his youngest children emigrated to England for the first time.
By 1855, Cullen Kharm built Rampart Press in London and restored the British family name & fortune. By 1897, he unified business relations with his Canadian and American cousins to merge the three printer-publishers under one corporation-Bulwark Publications. Cullen placed his five sons at the heads of the largest and most lucrative Bulwark holdings before his death in 1901. Control of Bulwark was a contentious issue for decades because of this heavy-handed move. After influenza wiped out the entire American branch of the Kharm family (and many relations by marriage) by 1920, the English branch of the family has had unshakeable control of the publishing empire.
Bulwark’s most visible growth spurt came between the 1920s and the 1940s when four different houses in three countries put between 15 and 30 Bulwark-owned pulps on the stands at any given time. As the era of the fiction pulps began to fade, Bulwark diversified its properties by licensing radio and movie serials, toys, comic strips, and comic books. Guardian Comics printed its first comic books in 1936, followed by Bulwark Comics in 1940. By 1942, the two companies’ comics and characters were only eclipsed by National Periodicals/DC Comics and Fawcett Comics in the 40s.
Another reason for Bulwark’s longevity and success (at least according to some in publishing circles) is their apparent honesty toward its creative staff. Since the beginning of the 20th century, all of Bulwark’s companies have reliably paid higher rates for short and long fiction and nonfiction work and even paid out royalties on reprinted materials. However, some have always complained about a lack of control under their auspices. Bulwark has had an ironclad work-for-hire standard on all of their published and licensed materials since 1899 (with the only exception being the WISHLAND book series as a shared-copyright with the Ventesch family). In short, Bulwark always paid better in exchange for total control of characters and worlds created under its roof.
Books-Fiction
Bulwark Press: 1797-1897
Guardian Publishing: 1958-1978
Rampart Press: 1877-1940
Bulwark Publications: 1940-present
Books-Nonfiction
Bulwark Press: 1797-1878
Rampart Press: 1878-1940
Bulwark Publications: 1940-present
Chapbooks, Pamphlets, & Limited Publications
Bulwark Press: 1756-1877
Guardian Publishing: 1772-1825
Rampart Press: 1855-1877
Comic Books
Guardian Publishing: 1936-1958
Bulwark Publications: 1940-1948; 1964-1991; 1998-2008; 2013?
Dime Novels & Dreadfuls
Bulwark Press: 1849-1921
Guardian Publishing: 1846-1876
Rampart Press: 1855-1897
Fiction Magazines & Pulps
Guardian Publishing: 1902-1927
Rampart Press: 1902-1924
Bulwark Press: 1902-1973
Bulwark Publications: 1989-1998; 2009-present
Games & Licensed Print Media
Guardian Media Group: 1978-present
Newspapers
Guardian Publishing: 1825-1939 (Guelph Guardian)
Nonfiction Magazines
Guardian Publishing: 1877-1916
Rampart Press: 1877-1920
Bulwark Publications: 1902-1973; 1980-present
Non-Print Media & Other Licenses
Bulwark Publications: 1928-present
Guardian Publishing: 1991-present
Originally published at Steven E. Schend. You can comment here or there.