University of Chicago Press
Encyclopedia
The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press
in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago
and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style
, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry
, and a wide array of advanced monographs in the academic fields.
One of its quasi-independent projects is the BiblioVault
, a digital repository for scholarly books.
The Press building is located just south of the Midway Plaisance
on the University of Chicago
campus.
, Journal of Infectious Diseases
, and Journal of Near Eastern Studies
.
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 copy-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. Leading 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 Richard 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 Letters — a vast collection of 16th-century correspondence by Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle
, a wealth of information about every aspect of sixteenth-century life.
As the Press's scholarly volume expanded, the Press also advanced as a trade publisher, when both of Norman Maclean
's books — A River Runs Through It and Young Men and Fire
— were ranked in the national best-seller list in 1992, and Robert Redford
filmed A River Runs Through It.
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."
The Press currently publishes 51 journals and over 50 new trade titles per year across many subject areas. It also publishes regional titles, such as The Encyclopedia of Chicago (2004), edited by James R. Grossman, Ann Durkin Keating and Janice Reiff; The Chicagoan: A Lost Magazine of the Jazz Age (2008) by Neil Harris; One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko (1999), a collection of columns by Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaperman Mike Royko
of the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune
; and many other books about the art, architecture, and nature of Chicago and the Midwest.
The Press has recently expanded its digital offerings to include most newly published books as well as key backlist titles. 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.
; The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
, by Thomas Kuhn
; A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean
; and The Road to Serfdom
, by F. A. Hayek
. In July 2009 the Press announced the Chicago Digital Editions program, which made many of the Press's titles available in e-book
form for sale to individuals. As of August 2010, more than 1,300 titles are available in this format. In August 2010, the Press published the 16th Edition of The Chicago Manual of Style
simultaneously in a print and online edition.
, founded in 1895, is the oldest academic journal devoted to sociology, while History of Religions (journal)
was the first academic journal devoted exclusively to comparative religious history. The Journals Division launched electronic publishing efforts in 1995; by 2004 all the journals published by the University of Chicago Press had become available online.
became its first client. Currently the CDC serves over 70 publishers including Stanford University Press
, University of Minnesota Press
, University of Iowa Press
and many others. Since 2001, with development funding from the Mellon Foundation, the CDDC (Chicago Digital Distribution Center) has been offering digital printing services and the BiblioVault
digital repository services to book publishers. In 2009, the Chicago Distribution Center enabled the sales of electronic books directly to individuals and provided digital delivery services for the University of Michigan Press
among others. Chicago Distribution Center has also partnered with an additional 15 presses including the University of Missouri Press
, West Virginia University Press
and publications of the Getty Foundation
.
University press
A university press is an academic, nonprofit publishing house that is typically affiliated with a large research university, and publishes work that has been reviewed by scholars in the field. It produces mainly scholarly works...
in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. Its 16 editions have prescribed writing and citation styles widely used in publishing...
, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry
Critical Inquiry
Critical Inquiry is a peer-reviewed academic journal in the humanities published by the University of Chicago Press. It is considered a leading journal within literary studies, and particularly in the field of critical theory....
, and a wide array of advanced monographs in the academic fields.
One of its quasi-independent projects is the BiblioVault
BiblioVault
The BiblioVault is a digital repository for scholarly books that enables publishers to manage their books throughout their lifecycles. Development began in late 2001 under the auspices of the University of Chicago Press, with financial support from the Andrew W...
, a digital repository for scholarly books.
The Press building is located just south of the Midway Plaisance
Midway Plaisance
The Midway Plaisance, also known locally as the Midway, is a park on the South Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois. It is one mile long by 220 yards wide and extends along 59th and 60th streets, joining Washington Park at its east end and Jackson Park at its west end. It divides the Hyde Park...
on the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
campus.
History
The University of Chicago Press was founded in 1891, making it one of the oldest continuously operating university presses in the United States. Its first published book was Robert F. Harper's Assyrian and Babylonian Letters Belonging to the Kouyunjik Collections of the British Museum. The book sold five copies during its first two years, but by 1900, the University of Chicago Press had published 127 books and pamphlets and 11 scholarly journals, including the current American Journal of SociologyAmerican Journal of Sociology
The American Journal of Sociology was established in 1895 by Albion Small and is the oldest academic journal of sociology in the United States. The journal is attached to the University of Chicago's sociology department and it is published bimonthly by The University of Chicago Press. Its...
, Journal of Infectious Diseases
Infectious Diseases Society of America
The Infectious Diseases Society of America is a medical association representing physicians, scientists and other health care professionals who specialize in infectious diseases. As of 2010, IDSA had approximately 9,000 members...
, and Journal of Near Eastern Studies
Journal of Near Eastern Studies
The Journal of Near Eastern Studies is an academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press, devoted to examination of the ancient and medieval civilisations of the Near East. Appearing in its pages are contributions from scholars of international reputation on archaeology, art,...
.
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
D. C. Heath and Company
D.C. Heath and Company was an American publishing company located at 125 Spring Street in Lexington, Massachusetts, specializing in textbooks.-History:...
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 copy-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
The Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. Its 16 editions have prescribed writing and citation styles widely used in publishing...
.
By 1931, the Press was an established, leading academic publisher. Leading books of that era include Dr. Edgar J. Goodspeed's
Edgar J. Goodspeed
Edgar Johnson Goodspeed was an American liberal theologian and scholar of Greek and the New Testament. He taught for many years at the University of Chicago, whose collection of New Testament manuscripts he enriched by his searches...
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
William Craigie
Sir William Alexander Craigie was a philologist and a lexicographer.A graduate of the University of St Andrews, he was the third editor of the Oxford English Dictionary and co-editor of the 1933 supplement. From 1916 to 1925 he was also Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the...
A Dictionary of American English on Historical Principles
Dictionary of American English
A Dictionary of American English on Historical Principles is a dictionary of terms appearing in English in the United States that was published in four volumes from 1938 to 1944 by the University of Chicago Press...
, published in four volumes in 1943; John Manly and Edith Rickert's The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at...
, 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 Richard Lattimore's
Richmond Lattimore
Richmond Alexander Lattimore was an American poet and translator known for his translations of the Greek classics, especially his versions of the Iliad and Odyssey, which are generally considered as among the best English translations available.Born to David and Margaret Barnes Lattimore in...
The Iliad of Homer
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
. 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
Koine Greek
Koine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic....
worldwide.
In 1966, Morris Philipson
Morris Philipson
Dr. Morris H. Philipson was an American novelist and book publisher. Philipson was the longest-serving director in the history of the University of Chicago Press, which position he held from 1967 to 2000....
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 Letters — a vast collection of 16th-century correspondence by Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle
Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle
Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, KG was an illegitimate son of King Edward IV of England, and an important figure at the court of Henry VIII...
, a wealth of information about every aspect of sixteenth-century life.
As the Press's scholarly volume expanded, the Press also advanced as a trade publisher, when both of Norman Maclean
Norman Maclean
Norman Fitzroy Maclean was an American author and scholar noted for his books A River Runs Through It and Other Stories and Young Men and Fire .-Biography:...
's books — A River Runs Through It and Young Men and Fire
Young Men and Fire
Young Men and Fire is a non-fiction book written by Norman Maclean. It is an account of Norman Maclean's research of the Mann Gulch fire of 1949 and the 13 men who died there. The fire occurred in Mann Gulch in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness on August 5...
— were ranked in the national best-seller list in 1992, and Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
filmed A River Runs Through It.
In 1982, Philipson was the first director of an academic press to win the Publisher Citation, one of PEN's
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
most prestigious awards. Shortly before he retired in June 2000, Philipson received the Association of American Publishers'
Association of American Publishers
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the American book publishing industry. AAP has more than 300 members, including most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly...
Curtis Benjamin Award for Creative Publishing, awarded to the person whose "creativity and leadership have left a lasting mark on American publishing."
Current status
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 300 people across three divisions—books, journals, and distribution—and publishing approximately 180 new books and 70 paperback reprints each year.The Press currently publishes 51 journals and over 50 new trade titles per year across many subject areas. It also publishes regional titles, such as The Encyclopedia of Chicago (2004), edited by James R. Grossman, Ann Durkin Keating and Janice Reiff; The Chicagoan: A Lost Magazine of the Jazz Age (2008) by Neil Harris; One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko (1999), a collection of columns by Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaperman Mike Royko
Mike Royko
Michael "Mike" Royko was a newspaper columnist in Chicago, who won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for commentary...
of the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
; and many other books about the art, architecture, and nature of Chicago and the Midwest.
The Press has recently expanded its digital offerings to include most newly published books as well as key backlist titles. The contents of The Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. Its 16 editions have prescribed writing and citation styles widely used in publishing...
are available online to paid subscribers. The Chicago Distribution Center is recognized as a leading distributor of scholarly works, with over 75 client presses.
Books Division
The Books Division of the University of Chicago Press has been publishing books for scholars, students, and general readers since 1892 and has published over 11,000 books since its founding. The Books Division has more than six thousand books in print at the present time, including such well-known works as The Chicago Manual of StyleThe Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. Its 16 editions have prescribed writing and citation styles widely used in publishing...
; The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions , by Thomas Kuhn, is an analysis of the history of science. Its publication was a landmark event in the history, philosophy, and sociology of scientific knowledge and it triggered an ongoing worldwide assessment and reaction in — and beyond — those scholarly...
, by Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Samuel Kuhn was an American historian and philosopher of science whose controversial 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was deeply influential in both academic and popular circles, introducing the term "paradigm shift," which has since become an English-language staple.Kuhn...
; A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean
Norman Maclean
Norman Fitzroy Maclean was an American author and scholar noted for his books A River Runs Through It and Other Stories and Young Men and Fire .-Biography:...
; and The Road to Serfdom
The Road to Serfdom
The Road to Serfdom is a book written by the Austrian-born economist and philosopher Friedrich von Hayek between 1940–1943, in which he "warned of the danger of tyranny that inevitably results from government control of economic decision-making through central planning," and in which he argues...
, by F. A. Hayek
Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich August Hayek CH , born in Austria-Hungary as Friedrich August von Hayek, was an economist and philosopher best known for his defense of classical liberalism and free-market capitalism against socialist and collectivist thought...
. In July 2009 the Press announced the Chicago Digital Editions program, which made many of the Press's titles available in e-book
E-book
An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
form for sale to individuals. As of August 2010, more than 1,300 titles are available in this format. In August 2010, the Press published the 16th Edition of The Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. Its 16 editions have prescribed writing and citation styles widely used in publishing...
simultaneously in a print and online edition.
Journals Division
The University of Chicago Press Journals Division publishes 41 journals and seven annuals in a wide range of academic disciplines, including the social sciences, the humanities, education, the biological and medical sciences, and the physical sciences. The American Journal of SociologyAmerican Journal of Sociology
The American Journal of Sociology was established in 1895 by Albion Small and is the oldest academic journal of sociology in the United States. The journal is attached to the University of Chicago's sociology department and it is published bimonthly by The University of Chicago Press. Its...
, founded in 1895, is the oldest academic journal devoted to sociology, while History of Religions (journal)
History of Religions (journal)
History of Religions is an academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press. It was founded in 1961 by Mircea Eliade. It publishes articles which study religious phenomena from prehistory to modern times, both within particular traditions and across cultural boundaries...
was the first academic journal devoted exclusively to comparative religious history. The Journals Division launched electronic publishing efforts in 1995; by 2004 all the journals published by the University of Chicago Press had become available online.
Chicago Distribution Services
The Distribution Services Division provides the University of Chicago Press's warehousing, customer service, and related services. The Chicago Distribution Center began providing distribution services in 1991, when the University of Tennessee PressUniversity of Tennessee Press
The University of Tennessee Press is a university press associated with the University of Tennessee.UT Press was established in 1940 by the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees.The University of Tennessee Press issues about 35 books each year...
became its first client. Currently the CDC serves over 70 publishers including Stanford University Press
Stanford University Press
The Stanford University Press is the publishing house of Stanford University. In 1892, an independent publishing company was established at the university. The first use of the name "Stanford University Press" in a book's imprinting occurred in 1895...
, University of Minnesota Press
University of Minnesota Press
The University of Minnesota Press is a university press that is part of the University of Minnesota.Founded in 1925, the University of Minnesota Press is best known for its books in social and cultural thought, critical theory, race and ethnic studies, urbanism, feminist criticism, and media...
, University of Iowa Press
University of Iowa Press
The University of Iowa Press is a university press that is part of the University of Iowa.Established in 1969, the University of Iowa Press publishes books that fill the needs of scholars and students throughout the world, poetry and short fiction, and works of creative nonfiction...
and many others. Since 2001, with development funding from the Mellon Foundation, the CDDC (Chicago Digital Distribution Center) has been offering digital printing services and the BiblioVault
BiblioVault
The BiblioVault is a digital repository for scholarly books that enables publishers to manage their books throughout their lifecycles. Development began in late 2001 under the auspices of the University of Chicago Press, with financial support from the Andrew W...
digital repository services to book publishers. In 2009, the Chicago Distribution Center enabled the sales of electronic books directly to individuals and provided digital delivery services for the University of Michigan Press
University of Michigan Press
The University of Michigan Press is part of the University of Michigan Library and serves as a primary publishing unit of the University of Michigan, with special responsibility for the creation and promotion of scholarly, educational, and regional books and other materials in digital and print...
among others. Chicago Distribution Center has also partnered with an additional 15 presses including the University of Missouri Press
University of Missouri Press
The University of Missouri Press is a university press founded in 1958 at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri.-External links:*...
, West Virginia University Press
West Virginia University Press
West Virginia University Press, sometimes referred to as WVU Press, is a university press that is part of West Virginia University. Founded in the 1960s, WVU Press focuses not only on topics related to West Virginia and Appalachia, but also broader topics, such as Medieval European Studies and...
and publications of the Getty Foundation
Getty Foundation
The Getty Foundation, based in Los Angeles, California, at the Getty Center, awards grants for "the understanding and preservation of the visual arts". In the past, it funded the Getty Leadership Institute for "current and future museum leaders", which is now at Claremont Graduate University. Its...
.
See also
- List of University of Chicago Press journals