University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press published its very first book in 1890, and it was not an easy sell. Robert F. Harper's Assyrian and Babylonian Letters Belonging to the Kouyunjik Collections of the British Museum moved just five copies in its first two years. Yet that same press would go on to become the largest university press in North America, eventually employing more than 300 people and publishing roughly 280 new books a year. How does a press that starts by selling five copies of a book about ancient cuneiform tablets build into something that size? The story moves through an awkward early arrangement with a Boston publisher, a fundamental reorganization that nearly broke the institution, and a series of pivotal editorial bets that reshaped American scholarly life. And lurking behind it all is a single style guide that generations of writers, students, and editors have had to reckon with.
For its first three years, the press was not quite part of the university at all. The Boston publishing house D. C. Heath ran operations alongside the Chicago printer R. R. Donnelley, creating an arrangement that quickly proved unworkable. In 1894, the university stepped in and formally assumed control.
By 1900, despite the rocky start, the press had published 127 books and pamphlets and 11 scholarly journals. Among those early journals were the Journal of Political Economy, the Journal of Near Eastern Studies, and the American Journal of Sociology, all of which are still publishing today.
The real transformation came in 1902, when the press undertook the Decennial Publications, a sweeping collection of articles and monographs by the university's own scholars and administrators. That project was, in the words of the press's own history, a radical reorganization. The work of compiling, editing, and preparing so much material forced the press to build professional infrastructure it had never had before. A manuscript editing and proofreading department was added to the existing staff of printers and typesetters. The direct result, in 1906, was the first edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.
By 1931, the press had grown into a leading academic publisher, and the titles it was accumulating told a story of real editorial ambition. Edgar J. Goodspeed's The New Testament: An American Translation became the press's first nationally successful title. It was later followed by a companion volume, The Complete Bible: An American Translation, completed with J. M. Powis Smith.
The 1940s brought Sir William Alexander Craigie's A Dictionary of American English on Historical Principles, published across four volumes in 1943, and John Manly and Edith Rickert's edition of The Canterbury Tales in 1940. Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations also appeared in this period, giving students a citation guide that would rival the Chicago Manual itself in reach.
The 1950s added 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, a reference work that students of Biblical Greek around the world have used ever since.
In 1956, the press moved into paperbacks for the first time, including the Phoenix Books series, opening its catalog to a wider reading public. Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions would follow in 1962, one of the most cited academic texts of the twentieth century. F. A. Hayek's The Road to Serfdom, published in 1944, also anchors the press's list of enduring titles.
In 1966, Morris Philipson became director of the University of Chicago Press and held that position for 34 years. His tenure was defined by a deliberate commitment to lengthening the backlist and taking on ambitious, long-horizon scholarly projects.
Among the largest undertakings Philipson championed was The Lisle Letters, a vast collection of 16th-century correspondence by Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle. The letters offered a window into every aspect of 16th-century life, and the project demanded exactly the kind of sustained editorial investment that Philipson valued.
Philipson also oversaw the press's emergence as a trade publisher of real commercial reach. In 1992, Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It and Young Men and Fire were both national best sellers. A River Runs Through It was adapted into a film directed by and starring Robert Redford.
The awards Philipson accumulated reflected his standing in American publishing. In 1982, he became 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, he received the Association of American Publishers' Curtis Benjamin Award for Creative Publishing, given to the person whose creativity and leadership have left a lasting mark on American publishing.
Since 1974, the Journals Division has published Critical Inquiry, one of the more prestigious humanities journals in the United States. As of 2016, the division publishes 81 peer-reviewed titles spanning the biological and medical sciences, the humanities, the physical sciences, and the social sciences. Electronic publishing efforts for journals launched in 1995, and by 2004 all of the press's journals were available online. In 2013, all new journal issues became available to subscribers in e-book format.
The Chicago Distribution Center began offering distribution services in 1991, when the University of Tennessee Press became its first client. The center now serves nearly 100 publishers, including Northwestern University Press, Stanford University Press, Temple University Press, the University of Iowa Press, and the University of Minnesota Press.
Since 2001, with development funding from the Mellon Foundation, the Chicago Digital Distribution Center has provided digital printing and repository services through the BiblioVault platform. In 2009, the center enabled direct electronic book sales to individuals and extended digital delivery services to the University of Michigan Press.
In 2014, the press received the International Academic and Professional Publisher Award for excellence at the London Book Fair. Garrett P. Kiely, who became the 15th director on the 1st of September 2007, now heads an operation that publishes 92 journal titles and approximately 280 new books and 70 paperback reprints each year.
The 16th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style appeared in August 2010, published simultaneously in print and online editions. The online version, The Chicago Manual of Style Online, is available to paid subscribers and has become a standard reference tool for editors, publishers, and writers across multiple disciplines.
The Manual grew directly from the editing infrastructure the press built during the Decennial Publications project. From its first edition in 1906, it has been revised repeatedly, and successive directors have treated new editions as a priority alongside trade and scholarly titles.
Paula Barker Duffy, who served as director from 2000 to 2007, oversaw expansion of the press's digital and reference offerings and commissioned new editions of both the Chicago Manual and the Turabian Manual. Her administration also produced The Encyclopedia of Chicago in 2004, edited by James R. Grossman, Ann Durkin Keating, and Janice Reiff.
The Books Division has published more than 11,000 books since its founding and currently has more than 6,000 titles in print. As of August 2016, more than 3,500 of those titles are available in digital form through the Chicago Digital Editions program, which the press announced in July 2009.
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Common questions
When was the University of Chicago Press founded?
The University of Chicago Press was founded in 1890, making it one of the oldest continuously operating university presses in the United States. For its first three years it was operated in conjunction with the Boston publishing house D. C. Heath and the Chicago printer R. R. Donnelley; the university formally assumed control in 1894.
What was the first book published by the University of Chicago Press?
The first book published by the University of Chicago Press was Robert F. Harper's Assyrian and Babylonian Letters Belonging to the Kouyunjik Collections of the British Museum. It sold only five copies in its first two years.
When was the first edition of The Chicago Manual of Style published?
The first edition of The Chicago Manual of Style was published in 1906. It emerged from the manuscript editing and proofreading department the press established while compiling the Decennial Publications beginning in 1902.
Who is Morris Philipson and what did he accomplish at the University of Chicago Press?
Morris Philipson served as director of the University of Chicago Press from 1966 to 2000, a tenure of 34 years. He was the first director of an academic press to win PEN's Publisher Citation, in 1982, and shortly before retiring he received the Association of American Publishers' Curtis Benjamin Award for Creative Publishing.
How many books and journals does the University of Chicago Press publish each year?
Under director Garrett P. Kiely, who took the role on the 1st of September 2007, the press publishes approximately 280 new books and 70 paperback reprints each year, along with 92 journal titles. The press employs more than 300 people across its books, journals, and distribution divisions.
What is the BiblioVault and how does it relate to the University of Chicago Press?
BiblioVault is a digital repository for scholarly books operated as a quasi-independent project of the University of Chicago Press. It was developed through the Chicago Digital Distribution Center with funding from the Mellon Foundation beginning in 2001.
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13 references cited across the entry
- 1webAbout the PressUniversity of Chicago Press
- 8webLondon Book Fair 2014: Excellence Award Winners RevealedApr 9, 2014
- 13webOur Members - AAPSeptember 26, 2019