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| Parent company | Penguin Random House |
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| Founded | 1915; 110 years ago (1915) |
| Founder | Blanche Wolf Knopf andAlfred A. Knopf Sr. |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | New York City, U.S. |
| Official website | knopfdoubleday |
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (/knɒpf/) is an American publishing house that was founded byBlanche Knopf andAlfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915.[1] Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in addition to leading American literary trends. It was acquired byRandom House in 1960, and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group division ofPenguin Random House which is owned by the German conglomerateBertelsmann.[2][3]
The Knopf publishing house is associated with theborzoi logo in itscolophon, which was designed by co-founderBlanche Knopf in 1925.[4]
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Knopf was founded in 1915 byAlfred A. Knopf Sr. along withBlanche Knopf, on a $5,000 advance from his father, Samuel Knopf.[4][5] The first office was located in New York'sCandler Building.[6] The publishing house was officially incorporated in 1918, with Alfred Knopf as president, Blanche Knopf as vice president, and Samuel Knopf as treasurer.[7]
From the start, Knopf focused on European translations and high-brow works of literature. Among their initial publications were French authorÉmile Augier'sFour Plays, Russian writerNikolai Gogol'sTaras Bulba, Polish novelistStanisław Przybyszewski's novelHomo Sapiens, and French writerGuy de Maupassant'sYvette, a Novelette, and Ten Other Stories.[6] During World War I these books were cheap to obtain and helped establish Knopf as an American firm publishing European works.[8] Their first bestseller was a new edition ofGreen Mansions, a novel byW. H. Hudson which went through nine printings by 1919 and sold over 20,000 copies.[6] Their first original American novel,The Three Black Pennys byJoseph Hergesheimer, was published in 1917.[6]
With the start of the 1920s Knopf began using innovative advertising techniques to draw attention to their books and authors. Beginning in 1920, Knopf produced achapbook for the purpose of promoting new books.The Borzoi was published periodically over the years, the first being a hardback calledThe Borzoi and sometimes quarterly asThe Borzoi Quarterly.[9] For Floyd Dell's coming-of-age novel,Moon-Calf, they paid men to walk the streets of the financial and theatre districts dressed in artist costumes withsandwich boards. The placards had a copy of the book for browsing and directed interested buyers to local book shops.[10]
The unique look of their books along with their expertise in advertising their authors drewWilla Cather to leave her previous publisherHoughton Mifflin to join Alfred A. Knopf.[11] As she was still under contract for her novels, the Knopfs suggested publishing a collection of her short stories,Youth and the Bright Medusa, in 1920.[11] Cather was pleased with the results and the advertisement of the book inThe New Republic and would go on to publish sixteen books with Knopf, including their firstPulitzer Prize winner,One of Ours.[11]
Before they had married, Alfred had promised Blanche that they would be equal partners in the publishing company, but it was clear by the company's fifth anniversary that this was not to be the case. Knopf published a celebratory fifth-anniversary book in which Alfred was the focus of anecdotes by authors and Blanche's name was only mentioned once to note that "Mrs. Knopf" had found a manuscript. This despite ample evidence from authors and others that Blanche was in fact the soul of the company. This was covered extensively inThe Lady with the Borzoi by Laura Claridge.[1]
In 1923, Knopf also started publishing periodicals, beginning withThe American Mercury, founded byH. L. Mencken andGeorge Jean Nathan, which it published through 1934.[12]
Also in 1923, Knopf publishedKahlil Gibran'sThe Prophet. Knopf had published Gibran's earlier works which had disappointing sales. In its first year,The Prophet only sold 1,159 copies. It would double sales the next year and keep doubling becoming one of the firm's most successful books. In 1965 the book sold 240,000 copies.[13] Approaching its 100 year anniversary in 2023,The Prophet has been translated into over100 languages and has never gone out of print for Knopf.
In the 1920s, Knopf sometimes withdrew or censored their books when threatened byJohn Sumner, such asFloyd Dell'sJanet March orGeorge Egerton's 1899 translation ofHunger.[14][15][16]
Samuel Knopf died in 1932. William A. Koshland joined the company in 1934, and worked with the firm for more than fifty years, rising to take the positions of president and chairman of the board. Blanche became president in 1957 when Alfred became chairman of the board, and worked steadily for the firm until her death in 1966. Alfred Knopf retired in 1972, becoming chairman emeritus of the firm until his death in 1984. Alfred Knopf also had a summer home inPurchase, New York.
Following theGood Neighbor policy, Blanche Knopf visited South America in 1942, so the firm could start producing texts from there. She was one of the first publishers to visit Europe after World War II. Her trips, and those of other editors, brought in new writers from Europe, South America, and Asia. Alfred traveled to Brazil in 1961, which spurred a corresponding interest on his part in South America. Penn Publishing Company was acquired in 1943. The Knopfs' son, Alfred "Pat" Jr., was hired on as secretary and trade books manager after the war.
In 1957, editorJudith Jones joined Knopf.[17] Jones, who had discoveredAnne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl while working at Doubleday, acquiredJulia Child'sMastering the Art of French Cooking for Knopf.[18] Jones would remain with Knopf, retiring in 2011 as a senior editor and vice-president after a career that included working withJohn Updike andAnne Tyler.[18]
Pat Knopf left his parents' publishing company in 1959 to launch his own,Atheneum Publishers, with two other partners.[19] The story made the front page ofThe New York Times.[19][20]
In a 1957 advertisement inThe Atlantic Monthly, Alfred A. Knopf published the Borzoi Credo. The credo includes a list of what Knopf's beliefs for publishing including the statement that he never published an unworthy book. Among a list of beliefs listed is the final one—"I believe that magazines, movies, television, and radio will never replace good books."[21]
In 1960,Random House acquired Alfred A. Knopf.[4] It is believed that the decision to sell was prompted byAlfred A. Knopf Jr., leaving Knopf to found his own book company,Atheneum Books, in 1959.[22]
Since its founding, Knopf has paid close attention to design andtypography,[23] employing notable designers and typographers includingWilliam Addison Dwiggins, Harry Ford,Steven Heller,Chip Kidd,Lorraine Louie,Peter Mendelsund,Bruce Rogers,Rudolf Ruzicka, andBeatrice Warde. Knopf books conclude with an unnumbered page titled "A Note on the Type", which describes the history of thetypeface used for the book. In addition, Knopf books date the year of the book's current printing on the title page.
Knopf published textbooks until 1988, when Random House's schools and colleges division was sold toMcGraw Hill.[24]
In 1991, Knopf revived the "Everyman's Library" series, originally published in England in the early 20th century. This series consists of classics of world literature in affordable hardcover editions. The series has grown over the years to include lines ofChildren's Classics andPocket Poets.
Random House was acquired byBertelsmann AG in 1998.[4] In late 2008 and early 2009, the Knopf Publishing Group merged withDoubleday to form the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.[25] Random House has been owned since its 2013 merger ofPenguin Group byPenguin Random House, ajoint venture betweenBertelsmann (53%) andPearson PLC (47%).
Many of Knopf's hardcover books are published later asVintage paperbacks. Vintage Books is a sister imprint of Random House.[26]
In October 2012, Bertelsmann entered into talks with rival conglomeratePearson plc, over the possibility of combining their respective publishing companies, Random House andPenguin Group. The merger was completed on 1 July 2013 and the new company isPenguin Random House.[27] Bertelsmann owned 53% of the joint venture while Pearson owned 47%.[28] At the time of the acquisition the combined companies controlled 25% of the book business, with more than 10,000 employees and 250 independent publishing imprints and with about $3.9 billion in annual revenues.[28] The move to consolidate was to provide leverage againstAmazon.com and battle the shrinking state ofbookstores.[28]
In 2015, Knopf celebrated its 100th anniversary by publishing a commemorative book,Alfred A. Knopf, 1915–2015: A Century of Publishing.[4]
While there have been many notable editors at Knopf there have only been four editors-in-chief:Alfred A. Knopf, Sr.,Robert Gottlieb,Sonny Mehta (who died in 2019) and Jordan Pavlin.[29] Other influential editors at Knopf includedHarold Strauss (Japanese literature),Herbert Weinstock (biography of musical composers),Judith Jones (translations, The Diary of Anne Frank, culinary texts),Peter Mendelsund (art director and book cover designer)[30] as well as Bobbie Bristol,Angus Cameron, Ann Close, Charles Elliott,Gary Fisketjon, Lee Goerner,Ashbel Green,Carol Brown Janeway, Michael Magzis, Anne McCormick, Nancy Nicholas,Daniel Okrent, Regina Ryan, Sophie Wilkins, andVictoria Wilson. Knopf also employed literary scouts to good advantage.[31]
Alfred A. Knopf has published books by many notable authors, includingJohn Banville,Carl Bernstein,Elizabeth Bowen,Frederick Buechner,Albert Camus,Robert Caro,Willa Cather,John Cheever,Julia Child,Bill Clinton,Michael Crichton,Miguel Covarrubias,Don DeLillo,Joan Didion,Bret Easton Ellis,James Ellroy,Martin Gardner,Kahlil Gibran,Lee H. Hamilton,Kazuo Ishiguro,John Keegan,Nella Larsen,John le Carré,Jack London,Gabriel García Márquez,Cormac McCarthy,Toni Morrison,Alice Munro,Haruki Murakami,Cynthia Ozick,Christopher Paolini,Edgar Allan Poe,Ezra Pound,Anne Rice,Dorothy Richardson,Stephen M. Silverman,Oswald Spengler,Susan Swan,Donna Tartt,Barbara W. Tuchman,Anne Tyler,John Updike,Andrew Vachss,James D. Watson, andElinor Wylie.
Thelogo for Knopf is a Russian wolfhound orBorzoi.[1]Blanche Knopf suggested the Borzoi for the logo to imply motion and the logo was used on both the spine and the title page of their books.[1]
Media related toAlfred A. Knopf at Wikimedia Commons| Bertelsmann Home Entertainment |
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