Alfred A. Knopf
 | |
| Parent company | Penguin Random House |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1915 |
| Founder | Blanche Wolf Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | New York City, U.S. |
| Official website | knopfdoubleday |
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (/knɒpf/) is an American publishing company. It was started by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915.[1] Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly. They were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers and leading in American literary trends. It was acquired by Random House in 1960, and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group division of Penguin Random House . It is owned by the German conglomerate Bertelsmann.[2][3]
The Knopf publishing house is associated with the borzoi logo, which was designed by co-founder Blanche Knopf in 1925.[4]
History
[change | change source]Founding
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Knopf was founded in 1915 by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf. Samuel Knopf loaned them $5,000 .[4][5] The first office was located in New York's Candler Building.[6] The publishing house was incorporated in 1918. Alfred Knopf was the president and Blanche Knopf was the vice president. Samuel Knopf was the treasurer [7]
At first they focused on European translations and serious, intellectual works of literature. Among their initial publications were French author Émile Augier's Four Plays, Russian writer Nikolai Gogol's Taras Bulba, Polish novelist Stanisław Przybyszewski's novel Homo Sapiens, and French writer Guy de Maupassant's Yvette, a Novelette, and Ten Other Stories.[6] During World War I these books were cheap to obtain. This helped establish Knopf as an American firm publishing European works.[8] Their first bestseller was a new edition of Green Mansions by W. H. Hudson which went through nine printings by 1919 and sold over 20,000 copies.[6] Their first original American novel, The Three Black Pennys by Joseph Hergesheimer, was published in 1917.[6]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Claridge (2016).
- ↑ "Penguin Random House". bertelsmann.com. Bertelsmann SE & Co. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ↑ "Alfred A. Knopf Inc.: Organizational History". Harry Ransom Center. The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
- 1 2 Swanson, Clare (May 15, 2015). "A Century of Alfred A. Knopf". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
- ↑ Clements, Amy Root. 2014. The Art of Prestige : The Formative Years at Knopf 1915-1929. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
- 1 2 3 4 Claridge (2016), pp. 29–47.
- ↑ Claridge (2016), pp. 54–57.
- ↑ Claridge (2016), p. 5.