AustLit

George Frederick Hassell migrated to South Australia from England in 1883 at the age of 14. His father, George Hassell, had been a printer in Leicester, and soon established a printing business, George Hassell & Son, in Victoria Square in Adelaide. After his father's retirement in 1900, G. F. Hassell ran the business, which was renamed the Hassell Press in 1922, first in partnership with his brother Frank, and from 1922, with his son, Frederick William Hassell.

Hassell lavished immense care and attention to detail in the work of the press, adopting a restrained, classical approach to typography and overall design. A lover of the arts, he supervised a publishing program which included special editions of classical works, literary anthologies, memoirs, narratives of exploration, and history. He formed a book club in Adelaide, which continued many years after his death, as the George Hassell Book Club.