Time Reading Program
Encyclopedia
The Time Reading Program (TRP), was a book sales club
run by Time–Life, the publisher of Time magazine
, from 1962 through 1966. Time was known for its magazines, and nonfiction book series' published under the Time-Life imprint, while the TRP books were reprints of an eclectic set of literature, both classic and contemporary, as well as nonfiction works and topics in history. The books were chosen by National Book Award
judge Max Gissen, the chief book reviewer for Time from 1947 until the TRP began in 1962.
The books themselves were published by Time Inc.
and followed a specific format across their widely varying subject matter. The editions were trade paperbacks, with covers constructed of very stiff plastic coated paper, for durability. The books were eight inches tall, just under than an inch taller than a standard mass-market or "rack" paperback. Each book had a wraparound cover with a continuous piece of artwork across both covers and the spine, generally a painting by a contemporary artist, commissioned specifically for the TRP edition. The TRP covers attracted a measure of acclaim at the time. According to Time, 19 TRP covers were cited in 1964 for awards from The American Institute of Graphic Arts
, Commercial Art Magazine and the Society of Illustrators
guild. Typography and other printing credits were given in a colophon
on the end pages, in the manner of sophisticated publishing houses like Alfred A. Knopf
. The William Addison Dwiggins
typeface Caledonia
was typically used. The logo for the series was in format of a monogram
, "RTP", enclosed in a rounded slightly rectangular box.
While not, strictly speaking, original publications, most of the TRP books had unique introductions written by various scholars specifically for the TRP edition. In a few cases, the texts had also been revised by the authors to create a definitive edition, and did not constitute abridgement.
Subscribers to the TRP typically received four books a month, though some books arrived as multi-volume sets. Included with shipments was a small newsletter describing the books and why they were chosen.
Time revived the program in the early 1980s, with many of the same titles.
Book sales club
A book sales club is a subscription-based method of selling and purchasing books. It is more often called simply a book club, a term that is also used to describe a book discussion club, which can cause confusion.-How book sales clubs work:...
run by Time–Life, the publisher of Time magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, from 1962 through 1966. Time was known for its magazines, and nonfiction book series' published under the Time-Life imprint, while the TRP books were reprints of an eclectic set of literature, both classic and contemporary, as well as nonfiction works and topics in history. The books were chosen by National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
judge Max Gissen, the chief book reviewer for Time from 1947 until the TRP began in 1962.
The books themselves were published by Time Inc.
Time Inc.
Time Inc. is a subsidiary of the media conglomerate Time Warner, the company formed by the 1990 merger of the original Time Inc. and Warner Communications. It publishes 130 magazines, most notably its namesake, Time...
and followed a specific format across their widely varying subject matter. The editions were trade paperbacks, with covers constructed of very stiff plastic coated paper, for durability. The books were eight inches tall, just under than an inch taller than a standard mass-market or "rack" paperback. Each book had a wraparound cover with a continuous piece of artwork across both covers and the spine, generally a painting by a contemporary artist, commissioned specifically for the TRP edition. The TRP covers attracted a measure of acclaim at the time. According to Time, 19 TRP covers were cited in 1964 for awards from The American Institute of Graphic Arts
American Institute of Graphic Arts
AIGA is an American professional organization for design. Organized in 1914, AIGA currently has more than 22,000 members throughout 66 chapters and more than 200 student groups nationwide...
, Commercial Art Magazine and the Society of Illustrators
Society of Illustrators
The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. Founded in 1901, the mission of the Society is to promote the art and appreciation of illustration, as well as its history...
guild. Typography and other printing credits were given in a colophon
Colophon (publishing)
In publishing, a colophon is either:* A brief description of publication or production notes relevant to the edition, in modern books usually located at the reverse of the title page, but can also sometimes be located at the end of the book, or...
on the end pages, in the manner of sophisticated publishing houses like Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
. The William Addison Dwiggins
William Addison Dwiggins
William Addison Dwiggins was a U.S. type designer, calligrapher, and book designer...
typeface Caledonia
Caledonia (typeface)
Caledonia is a transitional serif typeface designed by William Addison Dwiggins in 1938 for the Mergenthaler Linotype Company.Dwiggins chose the name Caledonia, the Roman name for Scotland, to express the face's basis on the early nineteenth century Scotch Roman typeface however, though Dwiggins...
was typically used. The logo for the series was in format of a monogram
Monogram
A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series of uncombined initials is properly referred to as a...
, "RTP", enclosed in a rounded slightly rectangular box.
While not, strictly speaking, original publications, most of the TRP books had unique introductions written by various scholars specifically for the TRP edition. In a few cases, the texts had also been revised by the authors to create a definitive edition, and did not constitute abridgement.
Subscribers to the TRP typically received four books a month, though some books arrived as multi-volume sets. Included with shipments was a small newsletter describing the books and why they were chosen.
Time revived the program in the early 1980s, with many of the same titles.
Series bibliography
(Books listed by year of reprint publication. Original publication date not given. Authors who provided their own introductions are indicated with an "‡")1962
- The American Character, D. W. Brogan
- The Power and the GloryThe Power and the GloryThe Power and the Glory is a novel by British author Graham Greene. The title is an allusion to the doxology often added to the end of the Lord's Prayer: "For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, now and forever , amen." This novel has also been published in the US under the name The...
, Graham GreeneGraham GreeneHenry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
‡ - Reveille in Washington, Margaret LeechMargaret LeechMargaret Kernochan Leech also known as Margaret Pulitzer, was an American author and historian, who won two Pulitzer Prizes in history, for her books Reveille in Washington and In the Days of McKinley .She was born in Newburgh, New York, obtained a B.A...
- The Worldly PhilosophersThe Worldly PhilosophersThe Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers is a book by Robert L. Heilbroner. The book was written in 1953 and has sold more than four million copies through seven editions...
, Robert L. Heilbroner - Mister JohnsonMister Johnson (novel)Mister Johnson is a novel by Joyce Cary. It is the story of a young Nigerian who falls afoul of the British colonial regime. Although the novel has a comic tone, the story itself is tragic...
, Joyce CaryJoyce CaryJoyce Cary was an Anglo-Irish novelist and artist.-Youth and education:...
, introduction by V.S. Pritchett, cover by James Spanfeller - King Solomon's RingKing Solomon's Ring (nonfiction)King Solomon's Ring is a zoological book for the general audience, written by the Austrian scientist Konrad Lorenz in 1949. The first English-language edition appeared in 1952....
, Konrad LorenzKonrad LorenzKonrad Zacharias Lorenz was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch...
, foreword by Julian HuxleyJulian HuxleySir Julian Sorell Huxley FRS was an English evolutionary biologist, humanist and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century evolutionary synthesis... - The Reason Why, Cecil Woodham-SmithCecil Woodham-SmithCecil Blanche Woodham-Smith was a British historian and biographer. She wrote four popular history books, each dealing with a different aspect of the Victorian era.-Early life:...
, Introduction by Gordon A. CraigGordon A. CraigGordon Alexander Craig was a Scottish-American historian of German history and of diplomatic history.-Early life:...
1963
- Karl Marx: His Life and Environment, Isaiah BerlinIsaiah BerlinSir Isaiah Berlin OM, FBA was a British social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas of Russian-Jewish origin, regarded as one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century and a dominant liberal scholar of his generation...
, introduction by Robert HeilbronerRobert HeilbronerRobert L. Heilbroner was an American economist and historian of economic thought. The author of some twenty books, Heilbroner was best known for The Worldly Philosophers , a survey of the lives and contributions of famous economists, notably Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard...
1964
- Mistress to an Age: A life of Madame de Staël, J. Christopher Herold
- Christ Stopped at Eboli, Carlo LeviCarlo LeviDr. Carlo Levi was an Italian-Jewish painter, writer, activist, anti-fascist, and doctor.He is best known for his book Cristo si è fermato a Eboli , published in 1945, a memoir of his time spent in exile in Lucania, Italy, after being arrested in connection with his political activism...
- The Bridge Over the River Kwai, Pierre BoullePierre BoullePierre Boulle was a French novelist largely known for two famous works, The Bridge over the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes .-Biography:...
and Xan FieldingXan FieldingXan Fielding, born Alexander Wallace Fielding DSO , was a British soldier and writer, noted for his English translations of Planet of the Apes and The Bridge on the River Kwai, both by Pierre Boulle....
1965
- I, ClaudiusI, ClaudiusI, Claudius is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius. As such, it includes history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41...
: From the autobiography of Tiberius Claudius, born B.C. 10, murdered and deified A.D. 54, Robert GravesRobert GravesRobert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works... - The Edge of Day: A Boyhood In The West of England, Laurie LeeLaurie LeeLaurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE was an English poet, novelist, and screenwriter, raised in the village of Slad, and went to Marling School, Gloucestershire. His most famous work was an autobiographical trilogy which consisted of Cider with Rosie , As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and...
, drawings by John WardJohn Stanton WardJohn Stanton Ward CBE was an English portrait artist, landscape painter and illustrator. His subjects included British royalty and celebrities.-Life and Work:...
1966
- The Decline of Pleasure, Walter KerrWalter KerrFor the RN admiral see Lord Walter KerrWalter Francis Kerr was an American writer and Broadway theater critic. He also was the writer, lyricist, and/or director of several Broadway plays and musicals.-Biography:...
, introduction by Phyllis McGinleyPhyllis McGinleyPhyllis McGinley was an American writer of children's books and poet about the positive aspects of suburban life.McGinley was born in Ontario, Oregon... - Wickford Point, John P. MarquandJohn P. MarquandJohn Phillips Marquand was a American writer. Originally best known for his Mr. Moto spy stories, he achieved popular success and critical respect for his satirical novels, winning a Pulitzer Prize for The Late George Apley in 1938...
, introduction by Edward Weeks - Watchers at the Pond, Franklin Russell, illustrations by Robert W. Arnold, introduction by Gerald DurrellGerald DurrellGerald "Gerry" Malcolm Durrell, OBE was a naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, author and television presenter...