J. M. Dent

Joseph Malaby Dent (30 August 1849 – 9 May 1926) was a British book publisher who produced the Everyman's Library series.

At the age of fifteen, he gave a talk on James Boswell's Life of Johnson, which would be the first book printed in the Everyman's Library.

[3] In A Sinking Island, Hugh Kenner wrote: "Destiny beckoned J. M. Dent toward the kingdom of books, and without ever learning to spell he became an influential bookman.

His paroxysms were famous; a Swedish specialist thought of prescribing a pail of cold water for Dent to plunge his head into.

[5] Despite having an impressive range of literature, Dent prevented classics of dubious morals, such as Moll Flanders, from being printed.