Harvard University Press

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Harvard University Press
Established 13 January 1913
Type University press
Parent Institution Harvard University
Headquarters 79 Garden Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
First Director Charles Chester Lane
Governing Body Board of Syndics
Imprint Belknap Press
Association Association of University Presses

Harvard University Press (HUP) is the academic publishing house of Harvard University, established on 13 January 1913 by the Harvard Corporation as a department of the University. It publishes scholarly works and books of general interest in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, medicine, and technology. Its publications include major works of historical, literary, philosophical, and scientific scholarship, as well as the Loeb Classical Library, which the Press has overseen since the death of its founder, James Loeb, in 1933.[1][2][3]

History

Origins and Establishment

Harvard's association with printing dates back to the seventeenth century. In 1638, the English clergyman Josse Glover brought a printing press to Massachusetts, which became associated with Harvard College after his death. Under the direction of Stephen Daye and his successors, the press produced works including The Whole Book of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre (1640), subsequently known as the Bay Psalm Book. Harvard's original printing operation was abandoned in 1692.[4]

The University subsequently established further printing operations. The Harvard Corporation voted to establish a university printing office in 1802, but the operation was sold in 1827. A third printing office was established in 1872, followed by a publication office in 1892. These operations were based in University Hall and later moved to Randall Hall.[5]

On 13 January 1913, the Harvard Corporation formally established Harvard University Press as a department of the University. The contemporary announcement in The Harvard Crimson explained that the purpose was to enable Harvard to publish books of high scholarly standard, whether written within or outside the University. The new Press was placed under a Board of Syndics, responsible for determining which manuscripts should be published. Its first director was Charles Chester Lane, who had previously served as the University's publication agent.[6]

The Press was established primarily to disseminate scholarship rather than to operate as an ordinary commercial publishing house. Its original board included professors and other prominent members of the University's academic and administrative circles. The arrangement was intended to provide a formal process for evaluating scholarly manuscripts and to give the University a means of publishing substantial academic works.[7]

Early Publishing

By 1921, the Press had published more than 300 titles. Its list included works in science, history, law, economics, philosophy, and literature. Among its early scholarly series were the Harvard Historical Studies, Harvard Economic Studies, Harvard Oriental Series, Harvard Business Studies, and Harvard Studies in Comparative Literature. It also issued academic journals, including the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the Harvard Theological Review.[8]

The Press also published works extending beyond narrowly specialized academic studies. Its early publications included books on Greek art and archaeology, translations of European literature, and works on English literature and culture. This combination of specialized scholarship and works intended for a broader readership became characteristic of its publishing program.[9]

The Press initially combined publishing and printing operations. In 1942, printing and publishing were separated organizationally. The Press subsequently continued as a publishing institution, while its premises changed over the following decades. It moved to Randall Hall in 1916, to 38 Quincy Street in 1932, and to Jewett House on Francis Avenue in 1948. In 1956 it moved to its present headquarters at 79 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts.[10]

Publishing Program

Harvard University Press publishes scholarly books and serious works of general interest across a wide range of disciplines. Its editorial program includes the humanities, social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences, medicine, and technology. The Press publishes research by established scholars as well as work by newer authors whose contributions address significant academic and public questions.[11]

The Press also distributes publications produced by a number of Harvard departments, research centres, libraries, and affiliated institutions. These include publications associated with the Department of the Classics, the Harvard Divinity School, Dumbarton Oaks, the Harvard University Asia Center, and the Center for Hellenic Studies.[12]

Belknap Press

The Belknap Press is an imprint of Harvard University Press. It is used for substantial scholarly works and major publishing projects associated with the Press. The Association of University Presses identifies Belknap Press among Harvard University Press's publishing imprints.[13]

Loeb Classical Library

The Loeb Classical Library is one of the most important classical publishing series associated with Harvard University Press. Founded by James Loeb, the Library was designed to make the major works of ancient Greek and Roman literature accessible through editions presenting the original Greek or Latin text alongside an English translation. Greek works traditionally appear in green bindings and Latin works in red.

The first Loeb volumes appeared in 1912, published in London by William Heinemann and with American co-publication arrangements that varied over the history of the series. Harvard University Press's institutional responsibility for the Library dates from the death of James Loeb in 1933. The Press subsequently became closely associated with the continuation and development of the series, including its modern digital edition.[14][15]

The digital Loeb Classical Library was launched in 2014 following a project undertaken by Harvard University Press and the Library's trustees. It made the collection searchable online while retaining the series' characteristic presentation of original texts and English translations.[16]

Bernadotte Perrin's Plutarch

Harvard University Press is associated with the later publication and continuation of the Loeb edition of Plutarch's Lives, translated by Bernadotte Perrin. Perrin's eleven-volume work appeared over the period 1914–1926 and contains the Greek text and English translation on facing pages.

The publication history requires care when identifying the publisher of a particular edition. The Folger Shakespeare Library records the original publication of Perrin's Plutarch's Lives as London: William Heinemann and New York: G. P. Putnam, 1914–1926. Other library catalogues record variations in the American publisher and imprint across the series. The National Library of New Zealand, for example, identifies Macmillan as the American co-publisher for the early volumes and records later changes in the publishing arrangement.[17][18]

A later reprint of Perrin's first volume bears the imprint of Harvard University Press and William Heinemann. The Perseus catalogue identifies the Greek text of Romulus in that edition as part of Plutarch's Lives, Volume I, edited by Perrin, and records the edition as a reprint. Accordingly, the appearance of the Harvard University Press imprint on a later copy should not be confused with the original publication history of the 1914 first edition.[19][20]

Association

Harvard University Press is a member of the Association of University Presses, formerly known as the Association of American University Presses. It was admitted to the association in 1937. The association describes its editorial program as publishing scholarly books and serious works of general interest across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, medicine, and technology.[21]

References

  1. ↑ University Press Founded. The Harvard Crimson (30 January 1913).
  2. ↑ Harvard University Press. Association of University Presses.
  3. ↑ Harvard's Loeb Classical Library Goes Digital. Harvard Magazine (15 August 2014).
  4. ↑ Harvard University Press Centennial in a Digital Era. Harvard Magazine (14 February 2013).
  5. ↑ Harvard University Press Centennial in a Digital Era. Harvard Magazine (14 February 2013).
  6. ↑ University Press Founded. The Harvard Crimson (30 January 1913).
  7. ↑ University Press Founded. The Harvard Crimson (30 January 1913).
  8. ↑ University Press Grows. The Harvard Crimson (4 March 1921).
  9. ↑ University Press Grows. The Harvard Crimson (4 March 1921).
  10. ↑ Harvard University Press Centennial in a Digital Era. Harvard Magazine (14 February 2013).
  11. ↑ Harvard University Press. Association of University Presses.
  12. ↑ Harvard University Press. Association of University Presses.
  13. ↑ Harvard University Press. Association of University Presses.
  14. ↑ Harvard's Loeb Classical Library Goes Digital. Harvard Magazine (15 August 2014).
  15. ↑ The Loeb Classical Library. National Library of New Zealand.
  16. ↑ Harvard's Loeb Classical Library Goes Digital. Harvard Magazine (15 August 2014).
  17. ↑ Plutarch's Lives, with an English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin. Folger Shakespeare Library.
  18. ↑ The Loeb Classical Library. National Library of New Zealand.
  19. ↑ Romulus, Plutarch's Lives, Volume I (Greek Edition). Perseus Digital Library.
  20. ↑ Plutarch's Lives, with an English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin. Folger Shakespeare Library.
  21. ↑ Harvard University Press. Association of University Presses.

External Links

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