Not only scholars interested in scientific publishing - biology, physics and mathematics in particular - and the political and social sciences know Princeton University Press (PU Press) but also those following the Press’s many award-winning titles.
A Brief History of Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press began in 1905 as a small printing business, mainly for the University’s Alumni Weekly. Interesting is that Whitney Darrow, a recent graduate who managed the Weekly, did not raise funds for the press from the university but the publishing world: He approached University trustee Charles Scribner, the publisher of Charles Scribner’s Sons who gave him initial funds and helped him raise more.
Soon, the Press started its printing business and publishing in 1912 with its first book, a new edition of John Witherspoon’s Lectures on Moral Philosophy. The Press’s first bestseller followed in 1914, biologist E.G. Conklin’s Heredity and Environment that tapped into the Darwinian controversy. From 1917 to 1938, the Press built up its printing plant and published 261 books and roughly 400 in its first 25 years. Publishing outpaced printing in the early 1940s and in the 1950s, the annual title output was 45.
In 1965, the Press invested again in printing when it built a new 55,000 square foot printing plant, geared to print its recently launched paperback publication program – until today one of the largest among university presses. It was only in 1993 that PUP sold its printing plant in favor of focusing exclusively on acquiring and publishing scholarly books. The Princeton Alumni Weekly, still in existence, became an independent entity in 1990.
PU Press’s Publishing Strategy
From the beginning, Princeton University Press kept close ties with the University, yet remained privately owned and controlled, therefore financially independent and with its own offices. The Press combined printing and publishing efforts to realize new publishing projects and as long as it made financial sense. Multivolume editions, series (more than 50 today), large-scale monographs and paperbacks soon became the Press’s publishing backbone.
Today, Princeton University Press publishes about 200 new hardcover books annually plus another 90 paperback reprints in more than 40 disciplines. In 2000, PU Press opened its European office in Woodstock, near Oxford, England. It actively acquires new books and markets the Press’s whole range of books in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and India.
The Editorial Process at Princeton University Press
Given its mission of "the promotion of education and scholarship,” the Press’s ties with the university are close. Its five editorial board members are university faculty members and nine of the fifteen trustees must have a Princeton University connection. In 2005, Peter J. Dougherty took over as director, who has been with the Press for the last 18 years. He joined the Princeton University Press in 1992 as senior economics editor and later became group publisher for the social sciences.
The Press has ten staff editors who solicit manuscripts. Each potential book projects is first referred to an outside expert for peer review and then passed to the editorial board for approval. Authors whose project fits the Press’s scholarly profile and who are interested in publishing with Princeton University Press can send a brief proposal and a copy of their curriculum vita to the Press’s Princeton office.
From a printing press to a publisher in the first century is Princeton University Press now on course in the digital age and its second century with a strong web presence, sample chapters online, e-books, podcasts, the Press’s blog and many more digital initiatives.
For more information about the Press, visit its website or the Princeton University Press blog. Readers may also be interested in a profile of Yale University Press and other university presses or University Press Publishing Facts.
Simone Preuss - Simone is a freelance writer, editor and translator who decided to go solo after a successful career in publishing. That was more than ...
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