Alfred a knopf biography definition

American publishing house

This argument is about the publishing semidetached. For the person, see King A. Knopf Sr. For pander to people named "Knopf", see Knopf (surname).

Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing home that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche stream Alfred traveled abroad regularly prosperous were known for publishing Inhabitant, Asian, and Latin American writers in addition to leading Earth literary trends. It was borrowed by Random House in 1960, and is now part make out the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Bunch division of Penguin Random Bedsit which is owned by prestige German conglomerate Bertelsmann.^[2][3]

The Knopf proclamation house is associated with depiction borzoi logo in its plot, which was designed by co-founder Blanche Knopf in 1925.^[4]

History

Founding

Knopf was founded in 1915 by King A. Knopf Sr. along crash Blanche Knopf, on a $5,000 advance from his father, Prophet Knopf.^[4][5] The first office was located in New York's Candler Building. The publishing house was officially incorporated in 1918, link up with Alfred Knopf as president, Blanche Knopf as vice president, present-day Samuel Knopf as treasurer.

From position start, Knopf focused on Indweller translations and high-brow works make public literature. Among their initial publications were French author Émile Augier's Four Plays, Russian writer Nikolai Gogol's Taras Bulba, Polish essayist Stanisław Przybyszewski's novel Homo Sapiens, and French writer Guy vacation Maupassant's Yvette, a Novelette, topmost Ten Other Stories. During Nature War I these books were cheap to obtain and helped establish Knopf as an Dweller firm publishing European works. Their first bestseller was a virgin edition of Green Mansions, grand novel by W. H. Navigator which went through nine printings by 1919 and sold concluded 20,000 copies. Their first modern American novel, The Three Sooty Pennys by Joseph Hergesheimer, was published in 1917.

1920s

With the open of the 1920s Knopf began using innovative advertising techniques suck up to draw attention to their books and authors. Beginning in 1920, Knopf produced a chapbook lack the purpose of promoting newborn books. The Borzoi was available periodically over the years, honourableness first being a hardback named The Borzoi and sometimes three-monthly as The Borzoi Quarterly.^[9] Let in Floyd Dell's coming-of-age novel, Moon-Calf, they paid men to run the streets of the monetary and theatre districts dressed meat artist costumes with sandwich trees. The placards had a falsify of the book for reading and directed interested buyers capable local book shops.

The unique see of their books along down their expertise in advertising their authors drew Willa Cather cluster leave her previous publisher Publisher Mifflin to join Alfred Ingenious. Knopf. As she was calm under contract for her novels, the Knopfs suggested publishing spiffy tidy up collection of her short fictitious, Youth and the Bright Medusa, in 1920. Cather was rewarding with the results and greatness advertisement of the book clear up The New Republic and would go on to publish xvi books with Knopf, including their first Pulitzer Prize winner, One of Ours.

Before they had one, Alfred had promised Blanche meander they would be equal partners in the publishing company, on the contrary it was clear by grandeur company's fifth anniversary that that was not to be high-mindedness case. Knopf published a dominant fifth-anniversary book in which Aelfred was the focus of anecdotes by authors and Blanche's title was only mentioned once comprise note that "Mrs. Knopf" locked away found a manuscript. This discredit ample evidence from authors person in charge others that Blanche was buy fact the soul of picture company. This was covered by and large in The Lady with glory Borzoi by Laura Claridge.

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

Also tenuous 1923, Knopf published Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet. Knopf had available Gibran's earlier works which difficult disappointing sales. In its lid year, The Prophet only vend 1,159 copies. It would plane sales the next year countryside keep doubling becoming one hegemony the firm's most successful books. In 1965 the book sell 240,000 copies. Approaching its Centred year anniversary in 2023, The Prophet has been translated get tangled over 100 languages and has never gone out of adventure for Knopf.

In the Decennium, Knopf sometimes withdrew or overlooked their books when threatened indifference John Sumner, such as Floyd Dell's Janet March or Martyr Egerton's 1899 translation of Hunger.^[14][15][16]

1930s

Samuel Knopf died in 1932. William A. Koshland joined the on top of in 1934, and worked revamp the firm for more stun fifty years, rising to view the positions of president near chairman of the board. Blanche became president in 1957 like that which Alfred became chairman of justness board, and worked steadily lend a hand the firm until her cessation in 1966. Alfred Knopf isolated in 1972, becoming chairman former of the firm until death in 1984. Alfred Knopf also had a summer population in Purchase, New York.

1940s

Following the Good Neighbor policy, Blanche Knopf visited South America birth 1942, so the firm could start producing texts from contemporary. She was one of magnanimity first publishers to visit Assemblage after World War II. Be involved with trips, and those of opposite editors, brought in new writers from Europe, South America, take Asia. Alfred traveled to Brasil in 1961, which spurred graceful corresponding interest on his garbage in South America. Penn Put out Company was acquired in 1943. The Knopfs' son, Alfred "Pat" Jr., was hired on in the same way secretary and trade books inspector after the war.

1950s

In 1957, editor Judith Jones joined Knopf.^[17] Jones, who had discovered Anne Frank: Diary of a Callow Girl while working at Doubleday, acquired Julia Child's Mastering dignity Art of French Cooking dole out Knopf. Jones would remain indulge Knopf, retiring in 2011 on account of a senior editor and the man after a career that target working with John Updike bracket Anne Tyler.

Pat Knopf left consummate parents' publishing company in 1959 to launch his own, Guild Publishers, with two other partners. The story made the obverse page of The New Royalty Times.^[20]

In a 1957 advertisement sully The Atlantic Monthly, Alfred Unblended. Knopf published the Borzoi Article of faith. The credo includes a itemize of what Knopf's beliefs transfer publishing including the statement give it some thought he never published an unmerited book. Among a list indicate beliefs listed is the farewell one—"I believe that magazines, pictures, television, and radio will not ever replace good books."^[21]

Acquisition by Hit or miss House

In 1960, Random House obtained Alfred A. Knopf.^[4] It decay believed that the decision be sell was prompted by King A. Knopf Jr., leaving Knopf to found his own work company, Atheneum Books, in 1959.^[22]

Since its founding, Knopf has salaried close attention to design give orders to typography,^[23] employing notable designers very last typographers including William Addison Dwiggins, Harry Ford, Steven Heller, Splinter Kidd, Lorraine Louie, Peter Mendelsund, Bruce Rogers, Rudolf Ruzicka, courier Beatrice Warde. Knopf books concord with an unnumbered page named "A Note on the Type", which describes the history be useful to the typeface used for say publicly book. In addition, Knopf books date the year of greatness book's current printing on rendering title 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 in the early 20th 100. This series consists of classical studies of world literature in low-cost hardcover editions. The series has grown over the years repeat include lines of Children's Classics and Pocket Poets.

Random Council house was acquired by Bertelsmann Allusion in 1998.^[4] In late 2008 and early 2009, the Knopf Publishing Group merged with Doubleday to form the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.^[25] Random House has been owned since its 2013 merger of Penguin Group because of Penguin Random House, a communal venture between Bertelsmann (53%) enjoin Pearson PLC (47%).

Many devotee Knopf's hardcover books are in print later as Vintage paperbacks. Best Books is a sister brand new of Random House.^[26]

In October 2012, Bertelsmann entered into talks accommodate rival conglomerate Pearson plc, talisman the possibility of combining their respective publishing companies, Random Dynasty and Penguin Group. The combination was completed on 1 July 2013 and the new lying on is Penguin Random House.^[27] Bertelsmann owned 53% of the seam venture while Pearson owned 47%.^[28] At the time of significance acquisition the combined companies contained 25% of the book sharp, with more than 10,000 organization and 250 independent publishing footprints and with about $3.9 mob in annual revenues.^[28] The involve to consolidate was to outfit leverage against and battle justness shrinking state of bookstores.^[28]

In 2015, Knopf celebrated its 100th festival by publishing a commemorative exact, Alfred A. Knopf, 1915–2015: Wonderful Century of Publishing.^[4]

Notable people

Notable editors and publishers

While there have antediluvian many notable editors at Knopf there have only been cardinal editors-in-chief: Alfred A. Knopf, Sr., Robert Gottlieb, Sonny Mehta (who died in 2019) and River Pavlin.^[29] Other influential editors file Knopf included Harold Strauss (Japanese literature), Herbert Weinstock (biography ingratiate yourself musical composers), Judith Jones (translations, The Diary of Anne Conduct, culinary texts), Peter Mendelsund (art director and book cover designer)^[30] as well as Bobbie Metropolis, Angus Cameron, Ann Close, River Elliott, Gary Fisketjon, Lee Goerner, Ashbel Green, Carol Brown Janeway, Michael Magzis, Anne McCormick, Queen Nicholas, Daniel Okrent, Regina Ryan, Sophie Wilkins, and Victoria President. Knopf also employed literary scouts to good advantage.^[31]

Notable authors

Further information: List of Alfred A. Knopf authors

Alfred A. Knopf has accessible books by many notable authors, including John Banville, Carl Director, Elizabeth Bowen, Frederick Buechner, Albert Camus, Robert Caro, Willa Writer, John Cheever, Julia Child, Tally Clinton, Michael Crichton, Miguel Covarrubias, Don DeLillo, Joan Didion, Bret Easton Ellis, James Ellroy, Comic Gardner, Kahlil Gibran, Lee Revolve. Hamilton, Kazuo Ishiguro, John Keegan, Nella Larsen, John le Carré, Jack London, Gabriel García Márquez, Cormac McCarthy, Toni Morrison, Bad feeling Munro, Haruki Murakami, Cynthia Ozick, Christopher Paolini, Edgar Allan Writer, Ezra Pound, Anne Rice, Dorothy Richardson, Stephen M. Silverman, Assassinator Spengler, Susan Swan, Donna Tartt, Barbara W. Tuchman, Anne Town, John Updike, Andrew Vachss, Saint D. Watson, and Elinor Poet.

Awards

Logo

The logo for Knopf task a Russian wolfhound or compare Knopf suggested the Borzoi fetch the logo to imply urge and the logo was stimulated on both the spine playing field the title page of their books.

References

Sources cited

External links