View source for Charles Frederic Moberly Bell

{{Infobox journalist
| name        = Charles Frederic Moberly Bell
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| birth_date  = {{birth date|1847|4|2|df=y}}
| birth_place = Alexandria, Egypt
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1911|4|5|1847|4|2|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England
| education   = 
| occupation  = Journalist and editor
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}}
'''Charles Frederic Moberly Bell''' (2 April 1847  in [[Alexandria]] &ndash; 5 April 1911 in [[London]]) was a prominent [[United Kingdom|British]] journalist and newspaper editor during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Although schooled in [[England]], Moberly Bell returned to his native city of Alexandria, [[Egypt]] as a young man (in 1865, at the age of 18).  After working briefly in business, he found free-lance work with ''[[The Times (London)|The Times]]'' newspaper of [[London]].  In 1875, he became its official Egypt correspondent, becoming famous for his coverage of the [[Urabi Revolt]] of 1882.  He also began the ''Egyptian Gazette'' newspaper in 1880.

In 1890, Bell was invited by owner A. F. Walter to help run the financially shaky ''[[The Times (London)|The Times]]'', then a highly respected newspaper but considered stolid and boring.<ref name="kogan_1958" >{{cite book | last = Kogan | first = Herman | year = 1958 | title = The Great EB: The Story of the Encyclopædia Britannica | publisher = The University of Chicago Press | location = Chicago | id = Library of Congress catalog number 58-8379}}</ref> As managing director, Bell revitalized the newspaper, greatly increasing its staff of foreign correspondents. In 1908, Bell helped to engineer its sale to [[Alfred Harmsworth]], later Lord Northcliffe.  In 1902, Bell created ''Literature'', a forerunner of ''[[The Times Literary Supplement]]'', as well as ''[[The Times Educational Supplement]]'' in 1910.<ref name="kitchen_1925" >{{cite book | last = Kitchen | first = F. Harcourt | year = 1925 | title = Moberley Bell and his Times: An Unofficial Narrative | publisher = Philip Allan and Co | location = London}}</ref>  Bell remained with the paper until his death in 1911.

Bell's single most notable accomplishment was his deal with American [[Horace Everett Hooper]] to reprint and sell the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' under the sponsorship of ''The Times''.<ref name="kogan_1958" />  Beginning in 1898, Hooper and his advertising executive Henry Haxton introduced aggressive marketing methods (full-page advertisements in ''The Times'' and [[direct marketing]]) to sell a reprint of the ''Britannica's'' 9th edition, which was justly famous for its scholarship but by then out of date.  Building on the solid reputation of ''The Times'', Hooper managed to sell an extraordinary number (over 20,000 sets) of the 9th edition and, in 1902-1903, over 70,000 sets of its supplement, the 10th edition.  The profit on the 10th edition was in excess of £600,000 pounds, and the royalties paid to ''The Times'' made that paper profitable for the first time in years.<ref name="kogan_1958" />  

The relations between Bell and Hooper were generally positive, partly owing to the profitability of Hooper's methods and also to Hooper's sincere respect for scholarship.  Bell assessed Hooper as "a ranker who loved to be accepted as a gentleman.  Treat him as a gentleman and one had no trouble with him; treat him as an essentially dishonest ranker and one got all the trouble there was to get."<ref name="kitchen_1925" />  Supported by Bell, Hooper introduced the Times Book club in 1905, and led the drive to make the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition]] the best possible ''Britannica'', no matter the expense.  This expense caused a rift between Hooper and his business partner, [[Walter Montgomery Jackson]]; their protracted legal fight (1908–1909) and public corporate wrangling caused ''The Times'' to cancel its contract to sponsor the 11th edition in 1908.  The 11th was then issued in 1910-1911 under the sponsorship of [[Cambridge University]], after [[Oxford University]] refused.<ref name="kogan_1958" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Other sources===
*{{MW 1935|date=August 2008}}

{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME              =Bell, Charles Frederic Moberly
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH     =2 April 1847
| PLACE OF BIRTH    =Alexandria, Egypt
| DATE OF DEATH     =5 April 1911
| PLACE OF DEATH    =London, England
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Charles Frederic Moberly}}
[[Category:British reporters and correspondents]]
[[Category:British newspaper editors]]
[[Category:The Times people]]
[[Category:Encyclopædia Britannica]]
[[Category:1847 births]]
[[Category:1911 deaths]]
[[Category:2Fix]]