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| Parent company | LSC Communications |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1941; 84 years ago (1941) |
| Founder | Hayward Cirker and Blanche Cirker |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | Garden City, New York[1] |
| Distribution | Self-distributed (US)[2] F&W Media International (UK)[3] Peribo (Australia)[4] Intersoft (South Africa)[5] |
| Publication types | Books,sheet music |
| Official website | www |
Dover Publications, also known asDover Books, is an American bookpublisher founded in 1941 by Hayward and Blanche Cirker. It primarily reissues books that areout of print from their original publishers. These are often, but not always, books in thepublic domain. The original published editions may be scarce or historically significant. Dover republishes these books, making them available at a significantly reduced cost.
Dover reprints classic works of literature, classicalsheet music, and public-domain images from the 18th and 19th centuries. Dover also publishes an extensive collection of mathematical, scientific, and engineering texts. It often targets its reprints at aniche market, such aswoodworking.[6] Starting in 2015, the company branched out intographic novel reprints, overseen by Dover acquisitions editor and former comics writer and editor Drew Ford.[7]
Most Dover reprints are photo facsimiles of the originals, retaining the original pagination and typeset, sometimes with a new introduction. Dover will usually add new and more colorful cover art to its paper-bound editions. They retitle some books to reflect modern dialect and categories. For example, the bookWoodward's National Architect was retitledA Victorian Housebuilder's Guide.[8]
The Cirkers started the business sellingremaindered textbooks by mail.[citation needed] The company published its first book,Jahnke and Emde'sTables of Functions with Formulas and Curves, when the German copyright was voided by the United States as a result of World War II. The book was an unexpected success and established the Dover business model of publishing esoteric works at a low price. One of Dover's best sellers wasAlbert Einstein'sThe Principle of Relativity, which Einstein reluctantly agreed to republish despite his concerns that it was outdated.
Dover helped to transform thepaperback book market. In 1951 it issued some of the earliest standard-sized paperbacks, a format that became known as atrade paperback.[9] Since the 1960s, the vast majority of Dover's titles have been paper-bound books of various sizes. Dover paperbacks had sewn pages, unlike most paperbacks which were held together with glue and subject to page drop-out.
Beginning in the 1950s Dover also issued a series ofListen & Learn language courses prepared primarily using teachers fromColumbia University.[10]
For a time, Dover also published a catalog ofLP phonograph records.[11] Some, such as selected recordings ofSchubert's solo and chamber works featuring pianistFriedrich Wührer, were reissues of earlier monaural releases from other labels. Noteworthy among Dover's original issues was an extensive series documenting pianistBeveridge Webster in literature ranging fromBeethoven'sHammerklavier sonata to the second piano sonata byRoger Sessions. In keeping with its thrifty philosophy, by using lower recording levels, leading to narrower grooves, Dover was able to include more minutes than usual on each LP; however, the lower recording levels meant morenoise and more vulnerability to scratches. Dover's foray into recordings was not as successful as its core business of book republication, and the company eventually abandoned it.
Starting in the 1990s Dover has published a specialized line of low-cost reprints of public domain literature known as "Dover Thrift Editions", which are generally priced at US$5 or less.[12] They also have several lines of foreign language books.
Hayward Cirker died in 2000 at the age of 82.[13] In that same year, Dover Publications was acquired by Courier Corporation.[14]
Courier was acquired byRR Donnelley in 2015.[15] RR Donnelly split into three in 2016; Dover became part ofLSC Communications.[16]
In 2020, LSC Communications, Inc. and 21 affiliated debtors filedChapter 11 bankruptcy in theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York.[17] The company was purchased in December 2020 by the private equity holding companyAtlas Holdings.[18]
Blanche Cirker died in 2022.[19]
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