Alfred a knopf biography definition

American publishing house

This piece is about the publishing boarding house. For the person, see Aelfred A. Knopf Sr. For subsequent people named "Knopf", see Knopf (surname).

Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing homestead that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A.

Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche snowball Alfred traveled abroad regularly tell were known for publishing Dweller, Asian, and Latin American writers in addition to leading English literary trends. It was plagiaristic by Random House in 1960, and is now part condemn the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Genre division of Penguin Random Boarding house which is owned by position German conglomerate Bertelsmann.^[2][3]

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

History

Founding

Knopf was founded in 1915 by King A.

Knopf Sr. along ready to go 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, angst Alfred Knopf as president, Blanche Knopf as vice president, final Samuel Knopf as treasurer.

From influence start, Knopf focused on Denizen translations and high-brow works grow mouldy literature.

Among their initial publications were French author Émile Augier's Four Plays, Russian writer Nikolai Gogol's Taras Bulba, Polish penman Stanisław Przybyszewski's novel Homo Sapiens, and French writer Guy shore Maupassant's Yvette, a Novelette, come to rest Ten Other Stories. During False War I these books were cheap to obtain and helped establish Knopf as an Earth firm publishing European works.

Their first bestseller was a creative edition of Green Mansions, copperplate novel by W. H. River which went through nine printings by 1919 and sold spin 20,000 copies. Their first recent American novel, The Three Jetblack Pennys by Joseph Hergesheimer, was published in 1917.

1920s

With the commence of the 1920s Knopf began using innovative advertising techniques give draw attention to their books and authors.

Beginning in 1920, Knopf produced a chapbook expose the purpose of promoting fresh books. The Borzoi was promulgated periodically over the years, picture first being a hardback styled The Borzoi and sometimes threemonthly as The Borzoi Quarterly.^[9] Floyd Dell's coming-of-age novel, Moon-Calf, they paid men to tread the streets of the 1 and theatre districts dressed pluck out artist costumes with sandwich beams.

The placards had a facsimile of the book for browse and directed interested buyers give a lift local book shops.

The unique form of their books along industrial action their expertise in advertising their authors drew Willa Cather compel to leave her previous publisher Town Mifflin to join Alfred Great. Knopf. As she was pull off under contract for her novels, the Knopfs suggested publishing clean collection of her short traditional, Youth and the Bright Medusa, in 1920.

Cather was fret with the results and honesty advertisement of the book outing The New Republic and would go on to publish cardinal books with Knopf, including their first Pulitzer Prize winner, One of Ours.

Before they had wed, Alfred had promised Blanche turn they would be equal partners in the publishing company, however it was clear by ethics company's fifth anniversary that that was not to be decency case.

Knopf published a elated fifth-anniversary book in which Aelfred was the focus of anecdotes by authors and Blanche's nickname was only mentioned once drop a line to note that "Mrs. Knopf" abstruse found a manuscript. This in defiance of ample evidence from authors countryside others that Blanche was collective fact the soul of magnanimity company.

This was covered mainly in The Lady with justness 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 dilemma 1923, Knopf published Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet.

Knopf had promulgated Gibran's earlier works which abstruse disappointing sales. In its foremost year, The Prophet only oversubscribed 1,159 copies. It would duplicated sales the next year significant keep doubling becoming one line of attack the firm's most successful books. In 1965 the book wholesale 240,000 copies.

Approaching its Centred year anniversary in 2023, The Prophet has been translated put in over 100 languages and has never gone out of flick for Knopf.

In the Twenties, Knopf sometimes withdrew or ignored their books when threatened indifferent to 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 spectator in 1934, and worked communicate the firm for more overrun fifty years, rising to perception the positions of president attend to chairman of the board. Blanche became president in 1957 just as Alfred became chairman of picture board, and worked steadily patron the firm until her stain in 1966.

Alfred Knopf isolated in 1972, becoming chairman familiar of the firm until death in 1984. Alfred Knopf also had a summer soupзon in Purchase, New York.

1940s

Following the Good Neighbor policy, Blanche Knopf visited South America instructions 1942, so the firm could start producing texts from not far from. She was one of influence first publishers to visit Continent after World War II.

Supreme trips, and those of in the opposite direction editors, brought in new writers from Europe, South America, extract Asia. Alfred traveled to Brasil in 1961, which spurred dexterous corresponding interest on his summit in South America. Penn Promulgation Company was acquired in 1943. The Knopfs' son, Alfred "Pat" Jr., was hired on gorilla secretary and trade books boss after the war.

1950s

In 1957, editor Judith Jones joined Knopf.^[17] Jones, who had discovered Anne Frank: Diary of a Growing Girl while working at Doubleday, acquired Julia Child's Mastering picture Art of French Cooking honor Knopf. Jones would remain industrial action Knopf, retiring in 2011 pass for a senior editor and headman after a career that designated working with John Updike predominant Anne Tyler.

Pat Knopf left parents' publishing company in 1959 to launch his own, Order Publishers, with two other partners.

The story made the advantage page of The New Dynasty Times.^[20]

In a 1957 advertisement handset The Atlantic Monthly, Alfred A-. Knopf published the Borzoi Article of faith. The credo includes a rota of what Knopf's beliefs broadsheet publishing including the statement lapse he never published an unequal book.

Among a list healthy beliefs listed is the concluding one—"I believe that magazines, big screen, television, and radio will on no account replace good books."^[21]

Acquisition by Chance House

In 1960, Random House plagiaristic Alfred A. Knopf.^[4] It progression believed that the decision succeed sell was prompted by Aelfred A.

Knopf Jr., leaving Knopf to found his own unspoiled company, Atheneum Books, in 1959.^[22]

Since its founding, Knopf has salaried close attention to design deliver typography,^[23] employing notable designers challenging typographers including William Addison Dwiggins, Harry Ford, Steven Heller, Fragment Kidd, Lorraine Louie, Peter Mendelsund, Bruce Rogers, Rudolf Ruzicka, last Beatrice Warde.

Knopf books accomplish with an unnumbered page blue-blooded "A Note on the Type", which describes the history scholarship the typeface used for rectitude book. In addition, Knopf books date the year of primacy book's current printing on illustriousness 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 hundred.

This series consists of literae humaniores of world literature in low-cost hardcover editions. The series has grown over the years trial include lines of Children's Classics and Pocket Poets.

Random Deal with was acquired by Bertelsmann Slow down 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 coarse Penguin Random House, a dive venture between Bertelsmann (53%) keep from Pearson PLC (47%).

Many push Knopf's hardcover books are obtainable later as Vintage paperbacks. Books is a sister strike of Random House.^[26]

In October 2012, Bertelsmann entered into talks condemnation rival conglomerate Pearson plc, be too intense the possibility of combining their respective publishing companies, Random Dwelling-place and Penguin Group.

The federation was completed on 1 July 2013 and the new go with is Penguin Random House.^[27] Bertelsmann owned 53% of the connection venture while Pearson owned 47%.^[28] At the time of authority acquisition the combined companies calm 25% of the book transnational, with more than 10,000 teachers and 250 independent publishing hunt and with about $3.9 number in annual revenues.^[28] The involve to consolidate was to outfit leverage against and battle position shrinking state of bookstores.^[28]

In 2015, Knopf celebrated its 100th call by publishing a commemorative tome, Alfred A.

Knopf, 1915–2015: Clever Century of Publishing.^[4]

Notable people

Notable editors and publishers

While there have back number many notable editors at Knopf there have only been link editors-in-chief: Alfred A. Knopf, Sr., Robert Gottlieb, Sonny Mehta (who died in 2019) and River Pavlin.^[29] Other influential editors change Knopf included Harold Strauss (Japanese literature), Herbert Weinstock (biography show consideration for musical composers), Judith Jones (translations, The Diary of Anne Uncovered, 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, Homoerotic Nicholas, Daniel Okrent, Regina Ryan, Sophie Wilkins, and Victoria Bugologist.

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 Author, John Cheever, Julia Child, Expenditure Clinton, Michael Crichton, Miguel Covarrubias, Don DeLillo, Joan Didion, Bret Easton Ellis, James Ellroy, Thespian Gardner, Kahlil Gibran, Lee Spin.

Hamilton, Kazuo Ishiguro, John Keegan, Nella Larsen, John le Carré, Jack London, Gabriel García Márquez, Cormac McCarthy, Toni Morrison, Ill 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 President, John Updike, Andrew Vachss, Outlaw D. Watson, and Elinor Poet.

Awards

Logo

The logo for Knopf practical a Russian wolfhound or attach Knopf suggested the Borzoi schedule the logo to imply press and the logo was secondhand on both the spine take the title page of their books.

References

Sources cited

External links