Editorial Lumen was founded in Burgos in 1936 by the priest and educator Joan Tusquets i Terrats, whose ideology was conservative. Therefore, during the early years this publishing house mostly issued religious works. When Joan Tusquets sold the imprint to a brother of his, this brother in turn transferred it to his daughter Esther, who took over at the helm in 1960 and changed the editorial line to focus it more on literature. Lumen as we know it today was founded in Barcelona in 1960.
+ informationEsther Tusquets collection in the Biblioteca de Catalunya
Catalogue of publishers and booksellers from the Bergnes de las Casas collection (Biblioteca de Catalunya)
More information and documentation on the works produced
Llanas, Manuel. L'Edició a Catalunya. Segle XX (1939-1975). Barcelona: Gremi d’Editors de Catalunya, 2006.
Tusquets, Esther. Confesiones de una editora poco mentirosa. Barcelona: Ediciones B, 2012.
Editorial Lumen was founded in Burgos in 1936 by the priest and educator Joan Tusquets i Terrats, whose ideology was conservative. Therefore, during the early years this publishing house mostly issued religious works. When Joan Tusquets sold the imprint to a brother of his, this brother in turn transferred it to his daughter Esther, who took over at the helm in 1960 and changed the editorial line to focus it more on literature. Lumen as we know it today was founded in Barcelona in 1960.
Esther Tusquets consolidated this imprint as a prestigious benchmark publisher of literature in terms of both quality and its commercial appeal. Spanish, Latin America and foreign authors made up a publishing output which spanned around 800 titles. In 1996, 80% of the Lumen shares were purchased by Plaza & Janés, and in 2001, when Tusquets retired, they were purchased by the Random House Mondadori Group.
The authors published by Lumen reflect the imprint’s idea of combining quality with commercial appeal. They include prestigious names such as Vargas Llosa and Camilo José Cela, as well as commercially popular names like Umberto Eco and Quino.
Lumen catalogue from 1941, when it was a religious publisher; and catalogue from 1995, when it had been a literary imprint since 1960.
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Lumen groups its output into almost 20 collections which span a variety of genres – fiction, poetry and essay, among others – by both contemporary and classic authors. Prominent collections include Palabra e Imagen, Grandes Autores, Palabra en el Tiempo, Poesía, Palabra Menor and Sis Joans.
Catalogues of different collections.
The most outstanding works issued by this publishing house reflect its policy of combining quality with commercial appeal.
Cover of Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada by Pablo Neruda and of 30 anys amb Mafalda by Quino, and title page of La caza de la perdiz roja by Miguel Delibes.