Editing Master and Commander (section)

==Publication history==
[[File:Master_&_Commander_cover_by_Geoff_Hunt.jpg|right|thumb|[[Geoff Hunt (marine artist)|Geoff Hunt]] cover used on reissues]]

===First US and UK publications 1969 / 70===
In the 1960s two of O'Brian's seafaring books for children, ''The Golden Ocean'' (1956) and ''The Unknown Shore'' (1959), caught the attention of a US publisher, [[J. B. Lippincott & Co.|J B Lippincott]], who were seeking an author to follow in the footsteps of [[C. S. Forester|C S Forester]], creator of the [[Horatio Hornblower|Hornblower]] series of novels.  Forester had died in 1966 and a year later, at the age of 53, O'Brian started work on ''Master and Commander''.{{sfn|Brown|2006|p=10}}{{sfn|Brown|2006|p=273}} The novel was first published in the US by Lippincott in 1969.{{sfn|Brown|2006|p=10}}

O'Brian's then UK publisher [[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]], who had originally agreed to jointly commission the book,{{sfn|King|2000|p=205}} rejected it as too full of jargon. It was taken up and published by [[William Collins, Sons|Collins]] in 1970.{{sfn|Brown|2006|p=273}}

The novel did respectably in Britain ("selling a most surprising number" according to O'Brian),{{sfn|O'Brian|1994|p=20}} but was not initially successful in the US.{{sfn|Brown|2006|p=273}} O'Brian later commented, "I am sorry to say that the Americans did not like it much at its first appearance (they have changed their minds since, bless them)".{{sfn|O'Brian|1994|p=20}}

Lippincott persevered in the US with publication of the next two novels in the series, ''Post Captain'' (1972) and ''HMS Surprise'' (1973), though sales remained slow. A change of US publisher to [[Stein and Day]] for ''[[The Mauritius Command]]'' did not help, and US publications ceased with ''[[Desolation Island (novel)|Desolation Island]]'' in 1978.{{sfn|Brown|2006|p=273}}{{sfn|Bennett|1994|p=150}}

===Norton US reissue 1990===
In 1989 Starling Lawrence, an editor with the US publisher [[W. W. Norton & Company|W W Norton]], borrowed a copy of ''[[The Reverse of the Medal]]'' from O'Brian's London literary agent to read on his flight home to New York. Lawrence persuaded Norton that in spite of the failed attempts of two previous US publishers ''Master and Commander'' and the subsequent novels were worth re-publishing.<ref name=Horowitz>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/10/18/specials/obrian-comesin.html |title=Patrick O'Brian's Ship Comes In |date=16 May 1993 |first=Mark |last=Horowitz |newspaper=The New York Times |department=Book Reviews |access-date=11 February 2018}}</ref> Norton's re-issued series (from 1990) was an almost immediate success and drew a new, large readership.{{sfn|Brown|2006|p=273}}