One of the ways in which the Fabian Colonial Bureau tried to educate public opinion in colonial matters was through its publications - through articles and comments in its own journal, Empire (later Venture), and other periodicals, as well as through books and pamphlets, sometimes based on research initiated by the Bureau, and sometimes on the work of others in the same field.

MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 365/31-37 contain material connected with pamphlets published by the Bureau between 1945 and 1960 - manuscripts, proofs, and related correspondence with authors, readers, printers, reviewers, and distributors. All the pamphlets bear the double imprint of Fabian Publications Ltd. and Victor Gollancz Ltd.: contact with Gollancz was mainly formal, but the relationship with the parent Society and its Publications Department was much closer. Readers were appointed to see that the contents conformed to Fabian standards, and the General Secretary kept in touch with the progress of each pamphlet, though the extent of his participation varied. Initially, printing arrangements were handled by the Society, but after 1948 the Bureau dealt directly with the printers and there is a marked increase in correspondence about format and printing costs. On a shoe-string budget, even small profit-margins counted, and it was important to avoid a loss. Consequently, much of the material is concerned with attempts to publicise and sell Bureau publications through reviewers and distributors in the United Kingdom and the colonies. However, the financial motive was always secondary: the Bureau's main objective was to inform.

In certain instances, publication was timed to coincide with particular events - for example, it was felt to be important that the Kenya edition of 'African Answer', by Tom Mboya, should come but before the 1956 elections; while John Hatch's pamphlet, 'Dwell Together in Unity', was published with an eye to West Indian Federation. 'Friendship and Empire', by J.B. Danquah, and 'East African Future', by a group of Oxford undergraduates, also fall into a somewhat special category, as does 'Kenya Controversy', which was suggested by a speech made by the Governor, Sir Philip Mitchell. The typical Fabian pamphlet (a yardstick frequently employed by readers) is perhaps better represented by 'Opportunity in Kenya, a Report to the Fabian Colonial Bureau', based on the work of two sub-committees; by 'Commonsense and Colonial Development', based on the work of a joint research group of the Fabian Home Research Committee and the Colonial Bureau; and by others written and edited by Bureau members, in particular Rita Hinden, Marjorie Nicholson, and T.F. Betts. Critical standards were exacting, and many projected pamphlets were abandoned, some at an extremely late stage and after much revision. The committee minutes show that the abandoned pamphlets in MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 365/38 represent only a proportion of those falling by the wayside.

This high rate of wastage accounted for some of the gaps in coverage of which Creech Jones among others was conscious. The choice of subjects was felt to be somewhat haphazard, perhaps inevitably when urgent problems such as Central African federation took precedence over existing projects. In 1959, John Hatch recommended a more systematic approach to the problem of selection, and from time to time lists were drawn up of topics already covered and of future areas of research. A comparison of these with the overall list of Fabian Society Publications in MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 365/31, folder 1, shows what the Bureau set out to do and the range it succeeded in covering. From this list (itself incomplete), it is clear that not all the pamphlets published by the Bureau between 1945 and 1960 are represented in this collection. Also missing is the Bureau's first major publication, Fabian Colonial Essays (Allen and Unwin, 1946), yet material connected with three other books is to be found in MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 365/39-41. This illustrates the exhaustive research and consultation of experts that characterise the Fabian method.

MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 365/43 contains articles written by Rita Hinden for Tribune, New Statesman, and other periodicals over a period of four years which, taken in conjunction with the pamphlets and articles in MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 365/31, folder 2, constitute a record of activity that is sufficiently remarkable even without taking into account her work for the Bureau during this period. Among them is at least one article by Marjorie Nicholson, whose booklet in the Co-operative Union Design for Study Series, 'Co-operation in the Colonies', is also included in this collection.

MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 365/44 contains records and correspondence relating to the journal made over to the Bureau by Frank Horrabin in 1941. Its original title, Empire, was felt to be unsuitable to the post-war period, and in 1949 it was renamed Venture. MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 365/44, folder 2, contains routine correspondence about contributions and publicity, which is supplemented by some of the correspondence in MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 365/75, and should be read in conjunction with the journal itself and with the committee minutes. These abound in reference to articles and special issues, and include a series of memoranda on the future role, format, and staffing of Venture, since reorganisations of the Bureau, such as those that occurred in 1955 and 1959, tended to be followed by reappraisals of its journal's purpose and of its publications policy as a whole.