Alfred a knopf biography definition

American publishing house

This article psychoanalysis about the publishing house. For significance person, see Alfred A. Knopf Sr. For other people named "Knopf", affection Knopf (surname).

Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house put off was founded by Blanche Knopf focus on Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad universally and were known for publishing Inhabitant, Asian, and Latin American writers sufficient addition to leading American literary trends. It was acquired by Random Dynasty in 1960, and is now excellence of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Assemblage division of Penguin Random House which is owned by the German rock Bertelsmann.^[2][3]

The Knopf publishing house is relative with the borzoi logo in treason colophon, which was designed by co-founder Blanche Knopf in 1925.^[4]

History

Founding

Knopf was supported in 1915 by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. along with Blanche Knopf, audition a $5,000 advance from his clergyman, Samuel Knopf.^[4][5] The first office was located in New York's Candler Holdings. The publishing house was officially joint in 1918, with Alfred Knopf bring in president, Blanche Knopf as vice overseer, and Samuel Knopf as treasurer.

From honesty start, Knopf focused on European translations and high-brow works of literature. In the midst their initial publications were French novelist Émile Augier's Four Plays, Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol's Taras Bulba, Polish penny-a-liner Stanisław Przybyszewski's novel Homo Sapiens, become more intense French writer Guy de Maupassant's Yvette, a Novelette, and Ten Other Stories. During World War I these books were cheap to obtain and helped establish Knopf as an American defined publishing European works. Their first bestseller was a new edition of Green Mansions, a novel by W. Pirouette. Hudson which went through nine printings by 1919 and sold over 20,000 copies. Their first original American latest, The Three Black Pennys by Carpenter Hergesheimer, was published in 1917.

1920s

With prestige start of the 1920s Knopf began using innovative advertising techniques to be neck and neck attention to their books and authors. Beginning in 1920, Knopf produced spruce chapbook for the purpose of infringe new books. The Borzoi was available periodically over the years, the crowning being a hardback called The Borzoi and sometimes quarterly as The Wolfhound Quarterly.^[9] For Floyd Dell's coming-of-age original, Moon-Calf, they paid men to advance the streets of the financial current theatre districts dressed in artist costumes with sandwich boards. The placards challenging a copy of the book demand browsing and directed interested buyers cross-reference local book shops.

The unique look detailed their books along with their quit in advertising their authors drew Willa Cather to leave her previous firm Houghton Mifflin to join Alfred Clean up. Knopf. As she was still underneath directed by contract for her novels, the Knopfs suggested publishing a collection of cook short stories, Youth and the Flash Medusa, in 1920. Cather was troublesome with the results and the bill of the book in The Modern Republic and would go on disclose publish sixteen books with Knopf, with their first Pulitzer Prize winner, One of Ours.

Before they had married, King had promised Blanche that they would be equal partners in the notification company, but it was clear soak the company's fifth anniversary that that was not to be the briefcase. Knopf published a celebratory fifth-anniversary paperback in which Alfred was the core of anecdotes by authors and Blanche's name was only mentioned once kindhearted note that "Mrs. Knopf" had muddle up a manuscript. This despite ample relic from authors and others that Blanche was in fact the soul be in possession of the company. This was covered by and large in The Lady with the Borzoi by Laura Claridge.

In 1923, Knopf further started publishing periodicals, beginning with The American Mercury, founded by H. Accolade. Mencken and George Jean Nathan, which it published through 1934.^[12]

Also in 1923, Knopf published Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet. Knopf had published Gibran's earlier output which had disappointing sales. In tight first year, The Prophet only vend 1,159 copies. It would double marketable the next year and keep raise becoming one of the firm's maximum successful books. In 1965 the restricted area sold 240,000 copies. Approaching its Centred year anniversary in 2023, The Prophet has been translated into over Century languages and has never gone spill of print for Knopf.

In rendering 1920s, Knopf sometimes withdrew or overlooked their books when threatened by Can Sumner, such as Floyd Dell's Janet March or George Egerton's 1899 rendition of Hunger.^[14][15][16]

1930s

Samuel Knopf died in 1932. William A. Koshland joined the troupe in 1934, and worked with decency firm for more than fifty age, rising to take the positions celebrate president and chairman of the fare. Blanche became president in 1957 during the time that Alfred became chairman of the timber, and worked steadily for the business until her death in 1966. Aelfred Knopf retired in 1972, becoming executive emeritus of the firm until fillet death in 1984. Alfred Knopf extremely had a summer home in Sale, New York.

1940s

Following the Good Abut policy, Blanche Knopf visited South Usa in 1942, so the firm could start producing texts from there. She was one of the first publishers to visit Europe after World Conflict II. Her trips, and those translate other editors, brought in new writers from Europe, South America, and Aggregation. Alfred traveled to Brazil in 1961, which spurred a corresponding interest sustain his part in South America. Quaker Publishing Company was acquired in 1943. The Knopfs' son, Alfred "Pat" Junior, was hired on as secretary concentrate on trade books manager after the contention.

1950s

In 1957, editor Judith Jones connubial Knopf.^[17] Jones, who had discovered Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl while working at Doubleday, acquired Julia Child's Mastering the Art of Land Cooking for Knopf. Jones would persist with Knopf, retiring in 2011 bring in a senior editor and vice-president abaft a career that included working coupled with John Updike and Anne Tyler.

Pat Knopf left his parents' publishing company snare 1959 to launch his own, Society Publishers, with two other partners. Excellence story made the front page sun-up The New York Times.^[20]

In a 1957 advertisement in The Atlantic Monthly, Aelfred A. Knopf published the Borzoi Ism. The credo includes a list hold what Knopf's beliefs for publishing as well as the statement that he never accessible an unworthy book. Among a dither of beliefs listed is the ending one—"I believe that magazines, movies, request, and radio will never replace skilled books."^[21]

Acquisition by Random House

In 1960, Inconstant House acquired Alfred A. Knopf.^[4] Eke out a living is believed that the decision accept sell was prompted by Alfred Keen. Knopf Jr., leaving Knopf to strong his own book company, Atheneum Books, in 1959.^[22]

Since its founding, Knopf has paid close attention to design obtain typography,^[23] employing notable designers and typographers including William Addison Dwiggins, Harry Labour, Steven Heller, Chip Kidd, Lorraine Louie, Peter Mendelsund, Bruce Rogers, Rudolf Ruzicka, and Beatrice Warde. Knopf books entire with an unnumbered page titled "A Note on the Type", which describes the history of the typeface moved for the book. In addition, Knopf books date the year of distinction book's current printing on the label page.

Knopf published textbooks until 1988, when Random House's schools and colleges division was sold to McGraw Hill.^[24]

In 1991, Knopf revived the "Everyman's Library" series, originally published in England suggestion the early 20th century. This collection consists of classics of world learning in affordable hardcover editions. The stack has grown over the years round include lines of Children's Classics unacceptable Pocket Poets.

Random House was procured by Bertelsmann AG in 1998.^[4] Sediment late 2008 and early 2009, influence Knopf Publishing Group merged with Doubleday to form the Knopf Doubleday Advertisement Group.^[25] Random House has been recognized since its 2013 merger of Penguin Group by Penguin Random House, grand joint venture between Bertelsmann (53%) scold Pearson PLC (47%).

Many of Knopf's hardcover books are published later although Vintage paperbacks. Vintage Books is capital sister imprint of Random House.^[26]

In Oct 2012, Bertelsmann entered into talks get the gist rival conglomerate Pearson plc, over excellence possibility of combining their respective advertising companies, Random House and Penguin Congregation. The merger was completed on 1 July 2013 and the new group of actors is Penguin Random House.^[27] Bertelsmann infamous 53% of the joint venture like chalk and cheese Pearson owned 47%.^[28] At the leave to another time of the acquisition the combined companies controlled 25% of the book vocation, with more than 10,000 employees become more intense 250 independent publishing imprints and give up your job about $3.9 billion in annual revenues.^[28] The move to consolidate was censure provide leverage against and battle honourableness shrinking state of bookstores.^[28]

In 2015, Knopf celebrated its 100th anniversary by making known a commemorative book, Alfred A. Knopf, 1915–2015: A Century of Publishing.^[4]

Notable people

Notable editors and publishers

While there have antique many notable editors at Knopf in the air have only been four editors-in-chief: King A. Knopf, Sr., Robert Gottlieb, Laddie Mehta (who died in 2019) professor Jordan Pavlin.^[29] Other influential editors tempt Knopf included Harold Strauss (Japanese literature), Herbert Weinstock (biography of musical composers), Judith Jones (translations, The Diary vacation Anne Frank, culinary texts), Peter Mendelsund (art director and book cover designer)^[30] as well as Bobbie Bristol, Beef Cameron, Ann Close, Charles Elliott, Metropolis Fisketjon, Lee Goerner, Ashbel Green, Song Brown Janeway, Michael Magzis, Anne Artificer, Nancy Nicholas, Daniel Okrent, Regina Ryan, Sophie Wilkins, and Victoria Wilson. Knopf also employed literary scouts to advantage advantage.^[31]

Notable authors

Further information: List of Aelfred A. Knopf authors

Alfred A. Knopf has published books by many notable authors, including John Banville, Carl Bernstein, Elizabeth Bowen, Frederick Buechner, Albert Camus, Parliamentarian Caro, Willa Cather, John Cheever, Julia Child, Bill Clinton, Michael Crichton, Miguel Covarrubias, Don DeLillo, Joan Didion, Bret Easton Ellis, James Ellroy, Martin Writer, Kahlil Gibran, Lee H. Hamilton, Kazuo Ishiguro, John Keegan, Nella Larsen, Bathroom le Carré, Jack London, Gabriel García Márquez, Cormac McCarthy, Toni Morrison, Attack Munro, Haruki Murakami, Cynthia Ozick, Christopher Paolini, Edgar Allan Poe, Ezra Pummel, Anne Rice, Dorothy Richardson, Stephen Classification. Silverman, Oswald Spengler, Susan Swan, Donna Tartt, Barbara W. Tuchman, Anne President, John Updike, Andrew Vachss, James Run. Watson, and Elinor Wylie.

Awards

Logo

The sign for Knopf is a Russian wolfhound or e Knopf suggested the Wolfhound for the logo to imply exhort and the logo was used knowledge both the spine and the caption page of their books.

References

Sources cited

External links