University of Chicago Press records 1892-1965 (inclusive)

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Bibliographic Details
Corporate author / creator:University of Chicago. Press.
Description:253 linear ft. (512 boxes)
Language:English
Subject:University of Chicago. -- Press.
University of Chicago. -- Press.
University presses.
University presses.
Format: E-Resource Print
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/2726439
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Varying Form of Title:Chicago, University of, Press, records
Notes:No restrictions.
The University of Chicago Press was founded in 1891, making it one of the oldest continuously operating university presses in the United States. For its first three years, the Press was an entity discrete from the University; it was operated by the Boston publishing house D.C. Heath in conjunction with the Chicago printer R.R. Donnelley. This arrangement proved unworkable, however, and in 1894 the University officially assumed responsibility for the Press. In 1902, as part of the University, the Press started working on the Decennial Publications. Composed of articles and monographs by scholars and administrators on the state of the University and its faculty's research, the Decennial Publications was a radical reorganization of the Press. This allowed the Press, by 1905, to begin publishing books by scholars not of the University of Chicago. A manuscript editing and proofreading department was added to the existing staff of printers and typesetters, leading, in 1906, to the first edition of The Chicago Manual of Style. By 1931, the Press was an established, leading academic publisher. Major books of that era include Dr. Edgar J. Goodspeed's The New Testament: An American Translation (the Press's first nationally successful title) and its successor, Goodspeed and J.M. Povis Smith's The Complete Bible: An American Translation; Sir William Alexander Craigie's A Dictionary of American English on Historical Principles, published in four volumes in 1943; John Manly and Edith Rickert's The Canterbury Tales, published in 1940; and Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. In 1956, the Press first published paperback-bound books under its imprint. Of the Press's best-known books, most date from the 1950s, including translations of the Complete Greek Tragedies and Richmond Lattimore's The Iliad of Homer. That decade also saw the first edition of A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, which has since been used by students of Biblical Greek worldwide. In 1966, Morris Philipson began his thirty-four-year tenure as director of the University of Chicago Press. He committed time and resources to lengthening the backlist, becoming known for assuming ambitious scholarly projects, among the largest of which was The Lisle Letter: a vast collection of 16th-century correspondence by Arthur Plantagenet, first Viscount Lisle, a wealth of information about every aspect of 16th century life. As the Press's scholarly volume expanded, the Press also advanced as a trade publisher. In 1992, Norman Maclean's books, A River Runs Through It and Young Men and Fire, were national best sellers. In 1982, Philipson was the first director of an academic press to win the Publisher Citation, one of PEN's most prestigious awards. Shortly before he retired in June 2000, Philipson received the Association of American Publishers' Curtis Benjamin Award for Creative Publishing, awarded to the person whose "creativity and leadership have left a lasting mark on American publishing." Paula Barker Duffy served as director of the Press from 2000 to 2007. Under her administration, the Press expanded its distribution operations and created the Chicago Digital Distribution Center and BiblioVault. Editorial depth in reference and regional books increased with titles such as The Encyclopedia of Chicago, Timothy J. Gilfoyle's Millennium Park, and new editions of The Chicago Manual of Style, the Turabian Manual, and The University of Chicago Spanish Dictionary. The Press also launched an electronic reference work, The Chicago Manual of Style Online. Garrett P. Kiely became the fifteenth director of the University of Chicago Press on September 1, 2007. He heads one of academic publishing's largest operations, employing more than 300 people across three divisions -- books, journals, and distribution -- and publishing 58 journal titles and approximately 180 new books and 70 paperback reprints each year. The Press currently publishes over 50 new trade titles per year, across many subject areas. The Press has recently expanded its digital offerings to include most newly published books as well as key backlist titles. In 2013, Chicago Journals began offering e-book editions of each new issue of each journal, for use on e-reader devices such as smartphones, iPad, and Amazon Kindle. The contents of The Chicago Manual of Style are available online to paid subscribers. The Chicago Distribution Center is recognized as a leading distributor of scholarly works, with over 75 client presses.
Summary:Consists of correspondence, minutes and other administrative material. The largest part of the collection consists of files on books published by the Press.
Cite as:When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: University of Chicago Press. Records, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
Cumulative Index / Finding Aids Note:Finding aid available in the Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library, 1100 E. 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637.