the rights to her books, but did not wish to issue cut-price editions; Cape negotiated the rights in early 1920 and successfully issued the paperbacks under the imprint Page & Co. With just enough starting capital, the firm of Jonathan Cape began trading on 1 January 1921 at 11 Gower Street, Bloomsbury. Cape and Howard recruited Edward Garnett as their editor and reader. Garnett, described by The Times as "the prince of publisher's readers," remained with the firm until his death in 1937. Each of the three principals brought his own contribution to the firm's success: Cape was experienced in publishing; Howard ensured high quality design and production; and Garnett was given the freedom to foster talent and build up a fine publishing list. Hart-Davis credits Garnett's literary judgment and Howard's production with gaining the firm an "outstanding reputation for quality during the next two decades". The firm's first publication was widely regarded as a gamble: Cape published a new two-volume edition, at the high price of nine guineas, of C. M. Doughty's Travels in Arabia Deserta. The book, first published in 1888 with no success, had been out of print for 30 years. The Cape edition sold out and had to be reprinted several times. Among those who admired it was T. E. Lawrence, who became friendly with Cape, and wrote an introduction to the firm's 1926 single-volume edition of the book. Jonathan Cape Ltd became Lawrence's publishers, issuing Revolt in the Desert (1927), Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1935), and The Mint (1955). In 1922, Cape took over the small publishing house A. C. Fifield, acquiring the rights to works by such authors as H. G. Wells, W. H. Davies, Sidney Webb and Samuel Butler. Cape was among the first British publishers to seek out American authors. Hart-Davis notes that the firm recruited three future Nobel prize-winners – Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, and Eugene O'Neill – as well as many other American writers including H. L. Mencken, Robert Frost, and Margaret Mead. British and other European authors published by Cape included H. E. Bates, Peter Fleming, Robert Graves, Christopher Isherwood, James Joyce, Malcolm Lowry, André Maurois, Douglas Reed, and Henry Williamson. The firm's best-sellers included Arthur Ransome's adventure books, Hugh Lofting's Doctor Dolittle stories, and most profitable of all, Ian Fleming's James Bond series. Cape opened an American publishing house in 1929, first in partnership with Harrison Smith and