Although Mills & Boon didn’t start life as a romance publisher, the company’s first publication in 1908 was in fact a romance – Arrows from the Dark, by Sophie Cole.

While working through our own collection of Mills & Boon books, we stumbled across this gem: the very first copy sold of this very first Mills & Boon book, signed by managing directors Gerald Mills and Charles Boon on 25 March 1909 to mark the occasion.  

Sophie Cole, who was the sister of Professor Cole, Professor of Zoology in the University of Reading and collector of our Cole Collection, went on to write dozens more books for the publishing house.