Read Ebook: Some Account of the Oxford University Press 1468-1921 by Oxford University Press

Font size: 10 px 15 px 20 px 25 px 30 px 35 px

Background color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Text color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Apply/Save settings

Ebook has 100 lines and 24805 words, and 2 pages

The composition of the board on 1 December 1921 was as follows:

For some two centuries from the time of Fell the Press was partly controlled by private partners; since the last of these was bought out by the efforts of Bartholomew Price, the University has been completely master of all its printing and publishing business. The Press to-day has no shareholders or debenture-holders, and subserves no private interest. On the other hand it possesses virtually no endowment. The whole of its great business has been gradually built up by the thrifty utilization of profits made by the sale of its books or in a minor degree from work done for outside customers. The maintenance of the Learned Press, with its output of scholarly and educational books, many of which are in their nature unremunerative, depends and has always depended upon the profitable management of the publications of the Press as a whole. In the last century the revenue devoted to learning was supplied mainly from the sale of Bibles and Prayer Books; but changing conditions led the managers of the Press to the conclusion that if the promotion of education and research were to keep pace with the growing volume and range of the demand, it would be necessary to expand the general activities of the business in many directions.

In prudent pursuance of a far-sighted policy, the overseas Branches of the Press were established to increase the sale of Oxford books; new departments of the publishing business were created, such as the very extensive series of cheap editions of the English Classics, and, more recently, the Oxford Elementary Books and the Oxford Medical Publications; and in the course of years the publications of the Learned Press itself have gradually become more popular in character and addressed to a wider audience. In the event, the Press to-day possesses a business of such magnitude and variety as will, it may be hoped, enable it to surmount the formidable obstacles which the increased cost of manufacture opposes to the production of all works of learning.

The General Catalogue has in the second edition been brought up to January 1920, and a third edition is in preparation. Supplements are also from time to time issued comprehending the books published since the current edition of the Catalogue. The Supplement now current comprises all books published in 1920.

Oxford Bibles and Prayer Books can be inspected in mass at many booksellers', as well as in the Depository at 116 High Street, Oxford, and in the showrooms at Amen Corner, in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and in the Branches overseas. Lack of space has everywhere made it impossible to exhibit the far greater number of Clarendon Press and other secular books on the same scale, but the books may be seen on application at any of the Press offices, and the popular series, gift books, &c., are always displayed. It is hoped before long to increase the space available for this purpose in the Oxford Depository, and to exhibit there all Clarendon Press books, arranged by subjects as in the Catalogue, so that members of the University and visitors may be able to inspect at one time and place all the books offered in any subject that may concern them. It is hoped to find room for separate exhibits of school-books, maps, and 'juvenile' books, so that the busy schoolmaster, with half an hour to spare in Oxford, may make a rapid survey of the contents of the Educational catalogue.

The Index to the General Catalogue contains the names of some three thousand living authors and editors. With almost all of these the Press deals direct, and not through agents, and their friendly co-operation is of immense service to the Delegates and their officers both in planning books and in securing for them the widest publicity.

Many of the books accepted by the Press are such as in the ordinary way of business would not secure a publisher except under subvention from the author or some favourer of learning; and of these the remuneration is recognized as being nominal, and necessarily inadequate to the labour and skill lavished upon the work. But for books commanding a remunerative sale, if they are of a suitable kind, the Press is prepared to pay the full market value; and it is believed that not many of its authors are dissatisfied with the bargains they have made.

'It is an immense advantage to an author to be printed by a famous Press', is the opinion of a veteran of letters, whose name appears in many publishers' catalogues. It is the aim of the Oxford Press to place at its authors' service its capacity for accurate and beautiful printing and binding, the goodwill attached to the University imprint, and the selling power enjoyed by its very large organization in the United Kingdom and throughout the world. Publication by the Press gives to an author the further security that his book will not be remaindered, pulped, or allowed to go out of print on the mere ground that it does not enjoy a rapid sale.

The bulk and weight of Bibles are kept down by the use of very thin and opaque paper, specially made at the Press Mill at Wolvercote. The use of such paper, and especially of the Oxford India paper, the combination in which of thinness with opacity has never been equalled, may be said to have revolutionized the printing of Bibles, by making possible the use of large clear type in a book of moderate size and weight.

Of the Prayer Book as of the Bible a large number of editions is offered to suit all fashions and purposes, and this in spite of the serious risks arising from the liability to change of the 'royal' prayers. A demise of the Crown, or the marriage of a Prince of Wales, makes it necessary to print a large number of cancel sheets, which have to be substituted for the old sheets in all copies held in stock or in the hands of booksellers.

A hundred years ago there were nineteen Oxford Bibles and twenty-one editions of the Book of Common Prayer. There are now more than a hundred of each. The Revised Version of the Bible, the copyright of which belongs to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge jointly, is also published in a large variety of editions.

These are extreme examples; they are, however, the result not of oblivion or of indifference, but of a policy which has long been and is still being pursued. The Press produces many works of learning which are so securely based that it is known that the demand, however small, will persist as long as there are copies unsold; and it is the practice of the Press to print from type large editions of such books. Clarendon Press books are neither wasted nor sold as remainders, and when a book goes out of print, some natural tears are shed.

Between these two classes lies a great mass of miscellaneous books, too general in character to admit of description here. They are in many languages, ancient and modern, of the East and of the West; of all fields of knowledge, divine, human, and natural; and of all stages of history from the Stone Age to the Great War. It follows necessarily that Clarendon Press books appeal to widely different publics and call for the application of various instruments of distribution and publicity. All, however, benefit by the widely diffused appreciation of the standards of scholarship and of literary form which the Press has set itself to uphold. The public expects much of any Oxford book, and the satisfaction of that expectation is often onerous; but the necessary effort is justified by the results--'the Oxford book is half sold already'.

THE PRESS ABROAD

Another field of enterprise is in vernacular education. Here the opportunities are vast, but the difficulties are great, for in most provinces many languages are spoken, and no one press is adequately equipped with the numerous founts of type required to deal with the vernaculars of India as a whole. The Branch was therefore fortunate in being, in 1916, invited by the Government of the Central Provinces to produce a series of Readers--in Hindi and Marathi--for use in schools throughout the province. At that time no paper could be imported from England, and the staff of the Branch was depleted by war. Nevertheless, within a year over half a million volumes had been written, printed, and illustrated, and were ready for distribution over a country nearly twice as large as England and Wales.

The activities of the Branch in placing the issues of the War before Indian readers in a true light attracted in 1918 the attention of Government; and the Branch was engaged by the Central Publicity Bureau to produce an illustrated War Magazine and a mass of pamphlets in English and the vernacular tongues.

In spite of these preoccupations the Branch has been able to emulate the activities of the Press at home by co-operating with learned bodies in India to produce books of scientific value. Notable among its publications in this kind are the historical treatises of Mr. Rawlinson, Mr. Kincaid, Mr. Mookerji, and other writers, and the economic studies published on behalf of the Universities of Bombay and Madras.

Mr. Rieu, when in 1919 reasons of health compelled him to retire, had in a few years proved himself a real pioneer. He had immensely increased the volume of business done by the Branch, and had opened up new and promising fields. His successor, Major G. F. J. Cumberlege, D.S.O., of Worcester College, who was accompanied by Mr. N. L. Carrington, of Christ Church, took over a successful and growing business. The original premises in Bombay had already been outgrown, and new offices opened in Elphinstone Circle. The increase of staff has made it possible to open a new branch in Calcutta--a sub-branch in Madras already existed--and it is confidently hoped that in the near future the business done in Oxford books, and adaptations of them, will be increased in volume, and that the service rendered by Oxford to the Indian Empire will be further enhanced by the activities of its Press.

The Oxford University Press Canadian Branch was founded in 1904 at 25 Richmond Street West, Toronto. The manager was Mr. S. B. Gundy, who still presides at the same address; but the building was destroyed by fire in 1905 and completely reconstructed.

Although Canada has still a relatively small population, scattered over an immense area, the volume of business done by the Branch is substantial, and it continues to grow. The sale of Oxford Bibles, Clarendon Press books, Medical and Elementary books is supplemented by the sale of books published in Canada and the United States, for which Mr. Gundy acts as agent. Thus the Branch sells all the publications of the great American house of Doubleday, Page and Company; and through this connexion it has recently become the sole publisher in Canada of the works of Mr. Rudyard Kipling.

This part of the business was first developed by visits regularly made from London by Mr. E. R. Bartholomew, who in 1908 became manager of the Branch then established at Cathedral Buildings, Melbourne. Australia is not only many thousands of miles from the great centres of book-production, but is itself a land of great distances, as yet but sparsely populated; and this creates difficulties for both publishers and booksellers. It is remarkable how far these obstacles have been overcome; and if regard is paid to the number and character of the population, Australia, and New Zealand no less, have a right to be proud of the quantity and quality of the books they buy.

The Branch has paid attention to the special needs of Australian education, and in co-operation with the universities and schools has produced a number of successful text-books.

It acts as agent for some of the leading British publishers, including the houses of Murray, Heinemann, Black, Chapman and Hall, and Mowbray; and for the large publishing business of Messrs. Angus and Robertson of Sydney.

The South African Office of the Press is at Markham's Buildings, Adderley Street, Cape Town. Mr. C. R. Mellor, the present Representative, was appointed to that post in March 1915. From his office at Cape Town Mr. Mellor visits the principal booksellers, not only in the Cape Province, but in the Transvaal, the Orange Free State, and Natal.

The Chinese Agency of the Press is at C 445 Honan Road, Shanghai, of which Mr. T. Leslie is the present Representative. The first agent in China for the Press was the Christian Literature Society of Shanghai, the agency being started in 1913. Mr. Leslie, who had been manager of that Society, took over the Press agency in 1917. Stocks of all Oxford books likely to be in demand in China are held in Shanghai.

For many years before the war a traveller from Amen Corner visited the Continent annually, but business in Scandinavia developed so rapidly after the Armistice that it was found desirable to open a Branch, and premises were accordingly secured in Copenhagen, Mr. H. Bohun Beet, the Continental traveller of the Press, being appointed manager. The Branch was opened in August 1920, at St. Kongensgade 40 H, close to the King's Palace. The Branch represents also Messrs. Hodder & Stoughton and the Medici Society.

The foundation of the Oxford University Press American Branch, an institution which has made the name of Oxford familiar throughout the Union, was due to the foresight and enterprise of Mr. Henry Frowde. Acting on his advice the Delegates of the Press authorized the formation of a Corporation in the State of New York, and the Branch in 1896 opened premises at 91 Fifth Avenue, under the management of the late Mr. John Armstrong. In the following year Mr. Armstrong added to the Bibles and other books, previously sold by Messrs. Nelson, the Clarendon Press publications, previously sold by the Macmillan Company. The business grew rapidly in Mr. Armstrong's hands, and in 1908 moved 'up town' to the premises it now occupies at 35 West 32nd Street. Mr. Armstrong died in 1915, and was succeeded by Mr. W. W. McIntosh, one of the original members of the staff.

SHOW ROOMS AT THE NEW YORK BRANCH

OXFORD BOOKS

At one time Oxford books were produced almost always at the instance of an author; and many Oxford books are still so produced. A scholar having devoted, it may be, many years of his life to a subject which he has made his own, applies to the University Press for publication of his researches; and such a claim is often admitted as irresistible. In modern times, however, the need for organization by the publisher has become increasingly apparent. Many books which if published in isolation would reach only a small public are found capable of a wider usefulness when issued as part of a larger plan; and thus the initiative in publishing passes more and more into the hands of the professional commanding the advice of a body of experts. School-books, reprints of the Classics, text-books of the applied sciences, and books of the nature of Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias are now almost always conducted in this way by co-operative enterprise.

A more recent collection arose out of the demand during the war for a compendious survey of the history of the belligerent powers. To satisfy the demand was one of the pieces of war work undertaken by the Press, and the evident usefulness of the volumes having survived the war has led to the establishment of a series on a permanent and wider plan, including Histories of the Nations and treatises of similar scope on leading questions of International politics. The series now covers France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, the Balkans, Serbia, Russia, Prussia, China, and Japan, with books on the Eastern Question, Diplomacy, Nineteenth-Century Treaties, and other topics. Many of the volumes have been frequently reprinted, and additions are in preparation.

The standard of scholarship, accuracy, and literary excellence which the Delegates maintain in the books published under their authority is believed to be as high as that attempted by any other publisher in the world. Its maintenance imposes upon the Delegates much labour and expense; but the effort is repaid in the reputation which Oxford books enjoy in the public estimation. The supervision exercised by the Delegates, both personally and through their advisers, is not limited to the initial judgement passed upon a book offered to them for publication; it extends through the whole process of revision in manuscript and in proof. When a book is favourably considered, an expert's detailed report is very often laid before the author, who is asked to consider the suggestions made and to confer with the Delegates' advisers; and this process of scrutiny is frequently far-reaching, the criticism being invited at one stage or another of a number of specialists in various fields. In this way many, perhaps most, of the books produced by the Press have received substantial improvement; and not a few have undergone something like transformation. To these benefits abundant testimony is borne in the prefaces of authors; more, perhaps, reposes in the archives in Walton Street.

The attention thus paid to the claims of scholarship and accuracy brings doubtless unmixed benefits to learning and education. To the Press as a business concern the blessing is less unequivocal. The Delegates' resources are not without limits; and they are sometimes embarrassed by the ambitions of learned authors from all parts of the world, to whom nothing but the imprint of the Clarendon Press seems an adequate reward. They are obliged to pick and choose, and sometimes to decline a proposal which would attract them if it had fewer rivals. Another imputation is less deserved. A distinguished American who had been invited to dine in an Oxford College confessed afterwards that as he entered the room his knees knocked at the thought that 'all these Fellows talked Latin'; and the public is sometimes frightened away from an Oxford book by the apprehension that it will be found full of Greek quotations. There is in fact no necessary connexion between accuracy and pedantry; and even Dons are often men of the world, well acquainted with the limitations of the average intelligence. No one need be afraid that an Oxford book on any ordinary subject will be any more abstruse than another book, though its facts will perhaps be better authenticated and its arguments more closely reasoned. The booksellers know this; and in reply to a customer's inquiry 'Is this a good book?' have been heard to reply 'Why it's an Oxford book'.

The use of illustration is, however, by no means confined to facsimiles and works on the arts. The modern productions of the Press have made an increasing use of illustration both as an embellishment and as a medium of information. School-books in particular are now lavishly illustrated with portraits, maps, diagrams, and other reproductions, often either of modern photographs or of old cuts and engravings carefully chosen, so that the actual men and things of former times may be faithfully mirrored.

The Press prints for the British Museum and other London collections, as well as for the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, very large numbers of postcards in collotype, by means of which a knowledge of our national art treasures is being widely spread.

But even the enthusiasm of a Furnivall did not avail to prevent a growing sense of despondency, when the work seemed to lengthen out indefinitely with no promise of performance. No private publisher could be found to undertake a work so vast. It was decided to invite the co-operation of the Clarendon Press. The Philological Society and Dr. James Murray, who had thrown himself into the work with an energy equal to Furnivall's own, and was by acclamation designated as editor, entered into negotiations with the Delegates of the Press, and an agreement was signed.

Valuable, however, as the work of these voluntary helpers has been, an even larger debt of gratitude is due to the faithful labours of the editorial staff of assistants, some of whom can trace back their term of service to the earliest years of the undertaking. To their acumen, vigilance, and zeal have been and are due in large measure the completeness of the evidence and the correctness of detail in the presentation of words and their meanings.

Sir James Murray died 26 July 1915. His ambition to see the completion of the work on his eightieth birthday in 1917 was not fulfilled, and even if he had lived to devote to it his amazing powers of application, could not have been fulfilled. He lived, however, to see the end of his life-work in sight, and more than that of any other man his name will be associated with the long and efficient working of the great engine of research. The volumes produced by him have characteristic excellences which cannot be exactly matched, though they may be rivalled by merits of another kind.

This, the largest of all national collections of biography, owes its existence to the enterprise and munificence of the late GEORGE SMITH, who founded it in 1882. The work was produced by the co-operation of a large number of scholars acting under the direction of the late Sir LESLIE STEPHEN, with whom was afterwards associated Mr. SIDNEY LEE; and the latter half of the work was produced under Sir SIDNEY LEE's sole editorship.

It was produced in sixty-three quarterly volumes, 1885-1900, the arrangement being alphabetical; and the lives of those who died too late to be admitted in their alphabetical place were included by the issue of three supplementary volumes, which brought the work down to the death of Queen Victoria and just past the close of the nineteenth century. The sixty-six volumes were later reissued, with corrections, on thinner paper, three volumes being converted into one; and this edition in twenty-two volumes constitutes the main dictionary from the earliest times to the close of the Victorian era, in the form now on sale. It contains, in rather more than 30,000 pages, some 30,000 lives, each equipped with a select bibliography. The roll of contributors includes many famous names; conspicuous among the articles are those of Sir Leslie Stephen himself, which are models of form and substance, and those of the present Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford, Dr. C. H. Firth, whose Life of Cromwell is an acknowledged classic.

Continuing the work of the founder, Mrs. George Smith undertook a Supplement covering the years 1901-1911, which was produced by Sir Sidney Lee in 1912-13. This, as the first of a series of twentieth-century volumes, inaugurated what may be regarded as a second and distinct work.

In the year 1907 a Joint Committee was formed between the Oxford University Press and Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton, under the Directorship of Mr. Humphrey Sumner Milford and Sir Ernest Hodder Williams, which had for its object the production of Medical, Surgical, and Scientific books, under the general title of the 'Oxford Medical Publications'.

The Committee were peculiarly fortunate in having the invaluable advice and assistance, in the choice of Authors and Subjects, of the late Sir William Osler, Regius Professor of Medicine in the University of Oxford, and a Delegate of the Press.

The Oxford Medical Publications were awarded the Grand Prix at the seventeenth International Congress of Medicine held in London in 1913. This award was bestowed for the general excellence of the Students' books produced in the Series, and for the production of new and original work therein.

The more recent activities of the Press include a notable enterprise, started by Mr. Henry Frowde jointly with Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton, but now carried on by Mr. Milford alone. This was the foundation in 1907 of a new department for the issue of educational works for elementary schools, and of 'gift-books', useful and recreative literature, for young people of all ages. The Oxford Reading Books, which headed the list, set a new literary standard for books of the class; and the series established itself not only in this country but in parts of the Empire so remote and so diverse as Australia and Burma. It was followed by further series of reading books, and of books on history, geography, arithmetic, nature study, and other subjects of the elementary curriculum. The part taken by the Press in the educational system of the English-speaking world may now be said to comprehend the whole scholastic field from the infant school upwards.

All these publications are edited with care, and both on the literary and on the artistic side a high level of excellence is aimed at. Some two million copies of the books are distributed during the year.

The Fell Ornaments on pp. 33, 36, 38, 40, &c., are those used in Sir Thomas Hanmer's edition of Shakespeare, published in 1744.

The illustration on p. 112 is from Thomas Hearne's edition of Roper's Life of Sir Thomas More published at Oxford in 1716.

For additional contact information:

Share on: WhatsApp @Hash Facebook Tweet