The Swedenborg Society

What The Swedenborg Society does

The Swedenborg Society is a registered UK charity (number 209172) founded in 1810 and headquartered at Swedenborg House, 20-21 Bloomsbury Way, London. It operates as one of the oldest independent academic publishers in the world, alongside a library, archive, museum, and gallery space dedicated to the works and intellectual legacy of 18th-century philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg. The Society publishes scholarly reference works, dual-language Latin/English theological editions, the annual Swedenborg Review periodical, the Swedenborg Archive Series, and the recently launched Hundtēontiŋ Editions cultural imprint; it also operates a cultural programme of exhibitions, lectures, film screenings, and the annual Swedenborg Film Festival.

The Society's technology stack is modest: an online bookshop (340+ titles), an Eventbrite integration for event ticketing, PayPal and GoCardless for donations and Friend subscriptions, a SoundCloud embed for audio publications, and standard web CMS infrastructure. There is no proprietary AI/ML, API, or SDK. Distribution is multi-channel: direct-to-consumer through the website and a physical bookshop (open 11:00am-3:00pm), UK trade distribution via CBS, Gardners Books, and Bertrams Books (40% trade discount), and US distribution via the Swedenborg Foundation. The Society also accepts advertising/placement via Eventbrite-listed event programmes and runs a social presence on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The Society makes money through a hybrid non-profit model: one-off book sales, recurring membership subscriptions (£15-£200 annual/life plus a £5 Friend tier), donations with Gift Aid, and venue hire of Swedenborg Hall and the David Wynter Room. Its customer base spans academic researchers and scholars, cultural event attendees, members and supporters, and trade/institutional buyers. The Swedenborg Doctoral Scholarship programme, launched in 2018, extends its academic reach into UK and North American universities including Oxford, King's College London, Amsterdam, and Aberdeen. The organisation is governed by a board of trustees, chaired by David Lister, with Stephen McNeilly as Executive and Museum Director.

Name

The Swedenborg Society

Legal name

The Swedenborg Society

Website

https://swedenborg.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1810

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Swedenborg Society is a 1810-founded UK registered charity and one of the world's oldest independent academic publishers, operating a publishing programme, library, archive, museum, and cultural venue at Swedenborg House in Bloomsbury, London, serving academic researchers, cultural audiences, and supporters of Emanuel Swedenborg's intellectual legacy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic and Religious Studies Publishing

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Professional Organizations (813920)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK), Faith-Based Media, Publishing & Broadcasting (Radio, TV, Digital, Press) (BPAGAJAI)

Keywords

• Academic publishing
• Scholarly reference works
• Cultural heritage institution
• Religious studies publishing
• Museum and archive services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Book Sales: Sales of academic publications, books on Swedenborg, related cultural works, and periodicals through online shop, physical bookshop, and trade distribution.
2. Membership Subscriptions: Annual and life membership fees providing benefits including discounts, free access to publications, library access, and priority event booking.
3. Friend of Swedenborg House: Annual subscription at £5 providing free Swedenborg Review, 20% book discount, free exhibition access, and other benefits.
4. Donations: Charitable donations through cheque, bank transfer, or PayPal. Gift Aid available for UK taxpayers to enhance donation value by 25%.
5. Room Hire: Hire of Swedenborg Hall and David Wynter Room for events, lectures, screenings, and meetings.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Swedenborg Society is a registered charity and one of the oldest independent academic publishers in the world, dedicated to the works and intellectual legacy of Emanuel Swedenborg. It operates Swedenborg House in Bloomsbury, London, combining an academic publishing programme of theology, scholarly reference works, and cultural editions with a research library, archive, museum, gallery, and cultural event venue. Revenue is generated through book sales, membership programmes, donations, room hire, and event ticketing.

Product overview

The Swedenborg Society is an independent academic publisher, registered charity, archive, and museum established in 1810. The organization operates as a single unified cultural institution offering publications, venue hire, membership programs, and educational services centered on Emanuel Swedenborg and his intellectual legacy. The core publishing program includes the Swedenborg Review (annual periodical issues 0.01-0.06), the Swedenborg Archive Series (pocket books, lectures, and interviews), reference works (bibliographies, concordances, lexicons), and translated theological works. Additional offerings include room hire facilities (Swedenborg Hall and David Wynter Room), membership programs (full membership £15-200 and Friend subscription £5/year), library and archive access, museum and gallery exhibitions, film festivals, cultural events, and the Swedenborg Doctoral Scholarship academic program. The society also maintains an online bookshop with over 340 products and trade distribution agreements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Swedenborg Review: The annual periodical of the Swedenborg Society featuring articles and reviews on contemporary events, books, and cultural activities. Published since 2019.
• Hundtēontiġ Editions
• Swedenborg Archive Series
• Swedenborg House Gallery

Products and services

• Swedenborg Review Annual periodical featuring articles, reviews, and cultural content covering contemporary events, books, literature, film, and activities related to Emanuel Swedenborg and his intellectual legacy. Published annually since 2019.
• Swedenborg Society Membership Annual and life membership programmes offering 20% book discount, priority event booking, free Swedenborg Review copies, library access, museum entry, and e-newsletter subscription. Annual rates from £15-30, Life membership £150-200.
• Friend of Swedenborg House Annual subscription at £5.00 providing free Swedenborg Review, 20% book discount, free access to exhibitions and selected talks, plus annual free gift.
• Room Hire Hire of Swedenborg Hall (main hall) and David Wynter Room for events, meetings, screenings, and gatherings at Swedenborg House, 20-21 Bloomsbury Way, London.
• Online Bookshop Online bookstore offering academic publications, translations of Swedenborg's works, archive series, biographies, and related cultural titles. Trade discount of 40% available.
• Library and Archive Research library and archive at Swedenborg House open Monday-Friday 9:30am-5:00pm by appointment. Houses permanent collection of artifacts and research materials.
• Museum Museum at Swedenborg House featuring exhibitions, artifacts, and cultural displays related to Emanuel Swedenborg and his influence on art, literature, and thought.
• Swedenborg House Gallery Gallery space in central London with rolling exhibition programme featuring works by artists including William Blake, André Breton, Leonora Carrington, Ithell Colquhoun, Derek Jarman, and Emanuel Swedenborg.
• Events Program Broad range of cultural events including talks, lectures, film screenings, exhibitions, educational workshops, and academic conferences featuring speakers from various fields.
• Swedenborg Film Festival Annual short film festival showcasing films inspired by or related to Emanuel Swedenborg, featuring screenings, Q&As, and awards.
• Swedenborg Doctoral Scholarship (SDS) Tuition-funded three-year DPhil/PhD scholarship for research on Emanuel Swedenborg within Humanities and Social Sciences, running since 2018 with up to 3 students per year at partner universities.
• Donations Charitable donation programme accepting cheques, bank transfers, and PayPal with Gift Aid eligibility for UK taxpayers to enhance donation value by 25%.
• The New Jerusalem and Heaven's Teaching for It Dual language Latin and English edition of Swedenborg's theological work with new translation and critical apparatus.
• A Descriptive Bibliography of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg Multi-volume bibliography documenting all of Swedenborg's publications from 1700-1772, essential research tool for scholars.
• The Swedenborg Concordance Comprehensive six-volume reference tool listing all key terms in Swedenborg's theological writings with concise quotations.
• A Lexicon to the Latin Text of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg Neo-Latin dictionary of Swedenborg's theological writings, the first dictionary of Neo-Latin words and usages.
• Swedenborg's Lusthus Major illustrated study of Swedenborg's summerhouse with contributions from writers Iain Sinclair, Chloe Aridjis, Ken Worpole, and Deborah Levy.
• Tremulations Exhibition catalog presenting objects from Swedenborg House archives alongside works by modern artists including Marcel Duchamp, Hilma af Klint, Yayoi Kusama, and others.
• Hundtēontiģ Editions New imprint of the Swedenborg Society publishing cultural editions featuring texts by Iain Sinclair and anonymous diagrams.

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered strategic, minor and core.

• Allen Ginsberg EstatestrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Collaboration for Allen Ginsberg at 100 celebrations featuring film screenings including 'Ah! Sunflower' and 'Outrider' at Swedenborg House, curated and produced in collaboration with Jesse Goodman and Peter Hale.
• The Bureau of Lost CultureminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Collaborating organization for the Allen Ginsberg at 100 celebrations and film screening programme at Swedenborg House.
• Southbank CentrestrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Partner organization for the Allen Ginsberg at 100 celebrations, collaborating with the Allen Ginsberg Estate and Bureau of Lost Culture.
• UK and North American UniversitiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Accredited universities throughout the United Kingdom and North America partner with the Society for the Swedenborg Doctoral Scholarship programme. Currently includes University of Oxford, University of Amsterdam, King's College London, and University of Aberdeen among others. The programme funds DPhil/PhD research on Swedenborg and covers tuition fees.
• CBS (Trade Distributor)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPrimary UK trade distributor for Swedenborg Society books alongside Gardners Books and Bertrams Books. Handles wholesale distribution to bookshops and retailers across the UK.
• Gardners BookscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorUK trade distributor for Swedenborg Society books. Part of the tri-distributor arrangement along with CBS and Bertrams Books.
• Bertrams BookscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorUK trade distributor for Swedenborg Society books. Part of the tri-distributor arrangement along with CBS and Gardners Books.
• Swedenborg FoundationcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorUS distribution partner for Swedenborg Society titles. Customers in the US can order a selection of Society publications through the Swedenborg Foundation website.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• The Ashmolean Museum: University of Oxford museum combining public exhibitions, a research archive, and publishing (exhibition catalogues, scholarly books). Comparable as a cultural institution that monetises both physical visitorship and a publishing programme, though at a much larger scale.

Direct peers

• Boydell & Brewer: Independent academic publisher with strong humanities, medieval, and intellectual-history lists. Like the Swedenborg Society, it is independent, scholarly-focused, and combines monographs with reference works and journals in narrow humanities fields.
• SCM Press: A theological and scholarly publishing imprint with a long history of academic books and journals in religious studies. SCM Press operates in the same niche scholarly-theological publishing space, with comparable author pipelines and library/institutional customers.
• The Warburg Institute: School of Advanced Study, University of London. The Warburg combines a world-class research library, archive, and scholarly publishing programme focused on intellectual and cultural history — directly comparable to the Swedenborg Society's combined library, archive, museum, and academic publishing remit.
• SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge): Founded 1698, SPCK is the UK's oldest publishing charity, combining scholarly Christian publishing, a membership structure, and grantmaking — structurally identical to the Swedenborg Society's model, with analogous reliance on donations, bequests, and an in-house bookshop.
• The Swedenborg Foundation: US-based parallel organization dedicated to publishing and disseminating Emanuel Swedenborg's works. The Foundation is the Swedenborg Society's principal US distribution partner and operates the same scholarly-publisher-plus-charity model, making it the closest functional peer.
• The Royal Society of Literature: UK literary and scholarly membership charity (founded 1820) that publishes, hosts events, and maintains a fellowship community. Closely comparable to the Swedenborg Society in its combination of membership model, public programming, and literary publication.

Broad incumbents

• Bloomsbury Academic: Academic publishing division of Bloomsbury Publishing, headquartered in the same Bloomsbury district as Swedenborg House. It competes for the same library acquisition budgets and humanities author pool, making it a proximate competitor on shelf-space and reviews.
• Cambridge University Press: The world's oldest university press and a major academic publisher. It is broader and far larger than the Swedenborg Society but operates in the same academic monograph and journal market that anchors the Society's publishing programme.
• Oxford University Press: Global academic and scholarly publisher with deep lists in theology, philosophy, and intellectual history. OUP is a customer/competitor overlap for the Swedenborg Society: many of its scholars contribute to and purchase from the same institutional libraries.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/swedenborghouse
• Facebookfacebook.com/swedenborghouse
• Instagraminstagram.com/swedenborg_house
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/swedenborg-society

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Swedenborg Society