Johns Hopkins University Press (JHU Press) located in Baltimore, MD is one of the oldest, continuously operating university presses in America, if not the world. Early diversification into books, journals and book series and various disciplines have added to JHU Press’s success story.
A Famous University Press Definition
It was Daniel Coit Gilman, Johns Hopkins University Press’s first president, who, during the inauguration of the press, provided not so much a raison d’être for JHUP but for university presses in general. He said: “It is one of the noblest duties of a university to advance knowledge and to diffuse it not merely among those who can attend the daily lectures but far and wide.”
This distribution of scholarly knowledge to scholars and non-scholars alike distinguishes university presses from other publishing houses that draw the line at commercial viability when it comes to their publishing lists. University presses, however, are comfortable in their role as niche publishers and non-profit enterprises for which no topic or financial margin is too narrow.
The History of Johns Hopkins University Press
Johns Hopkins University Press was founded in Baltimore in 1878, only two years after Johns Hopkins University. Called University Publication Agency then, the press did not start with books but with journals: the American Journal of Mathematics during the first year and the American Journal of Philology in 1880 – both still published today. The first book followed in 1881 with Sidney Lanier: A Memorial Tribute, in honor of one of the University’s first writers in residence.
Ten years later in 1891, the Publication Agency changed its name to Johns Hopkins Press and in 1972 to its current name, Johns Hopkins University Press. Today, the Press is governed by two boards: the JHU Press Advisory Board, comprised of JHU members and industry experts, and the JHU Press Faculty Editorial Board.
Johns Hopkins University Press Books and Journals
JHUP got soon recognized for its book series that provided contemporary information in various disciplines in a consistent format. Among the best known are the Johns Hopkins Press Health Book, Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Science, Medicine and Culture, The American Moment and others. Some other core areas of JHU Press are:
- Health and Medicine
- History
- Humanities and the Arts
- Science and Math
- Social Science
- Regional Interest, especially Chesapeake Bay
JHU Press and Project MUSE
Project MUSE seems to be JHU Press’s answer to its mission of advancing scholarly knowledge “far and wide” in the electronic age. As collaboration between libraries and publishers, Project MUSE’s mission is “the broad dissemination of high-quality scholarly content.” The Project provides full-text access to over 400 online journals, many of them by other university presses or scholarly societies.
Unlike other university presses, JHU Press did not start with books but decided on a scholarly journal as its first publication. However, books soon followed including many popular series. Diversification across topics and print and electronic media has served the Press well and will continue to do so.
More information about the Press and its publishing products can be found on the Johns Hopkins University Press website. Interested readers may want to know more about university press publishing in general, for example
- the University Press Publishing Model
- University Press Publishing Quick Facts
- Oxford University Press Profile
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