Henry Colburn began publishing in London around 1806. The firm concentrated on fiction and light literature, and by 1829 was the biggest general publisher in England. Colburn was successful in developing new popular authors, whose work he published as three volume ( '3-decker') novels, and promoted in magazines he founded and controlled. For a three-year period from 1829 Colburn joined in partnership with Richard Bentley, who had been his printer, and they traded as Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley. During this time they began issuing one volume reprints of three-decker novels, which brought the price of the books within the means of an expanded range of book-buyers.
Richard Bentley bought Colburn out in 1832 and became his publishing rival as each partner continued to publish in the same field. Colburn sold his business in 1852 to Daniel Hurst, who formed a partnership with Henry Blackett as Hurst and Blackett.
