Background
Alfred A. Knopf was born in New York City on September 12, 1892, to Samuel and Ida Jaffee Knopf.
(A large paperback edition published to accompany an exhib...)
A large paperback edition published to accompany an exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from January 31 to April 9, 1995.
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Alfred A. Knopf was born in New York City on September 12, 1892, to Samuel and Ida Jaffee Knopf.
In 1908 he entered Columbia University, where he studied literature with John Erskine and Joel Spingarn and history with Carlton Hayes. During his senior year he began corresponding with the British novelist John Galsworthy, about whom he was writing an essay. He graduated in the spring of 1912, planning to attend Harvard Law School the following fall.
Knopf's achievements as a publisher of distinguished books brought him half a dozen honorary degrees.
He travelled to England, met Galsworthy, became entranced by the literary life, and decided to forego law in favor of a career in publishing.
Knopf's father, an advertising man and financial consultant, helped him to secure a position in the accounting department of Doubleday, Page at eight dollars a week. Knopf stayed at Doubleday for 18 months, in the course of which he wrote a highly effective publicity brochure about Joseph Conrad. In 1914 he left Doubleday to work for the publisher Mitchell Kennerly. The next year, equipped with $5, 000, a desk in his father's office, and the assistance of his fiancée Blanche Wolf, Knopf struck out on his own.
From the beginning Knopf books were distinctive in three respects: cosmopolitanism, quality, and design. By 1917, of the 77 books Knopf had issued, more than a quarter were English (including W. H. Hudson's Green Mansions), while continental, Russian, and Asian writers accounted for almost half. In the 1920s Knopf began acquiring such notable American authors as Willa Cather, Carl Van Vechten, and Joseph Hergesheimer. As vice-president of the firm, however, Blanche Knopf perpetuated the house's special interest in foreign books. Thus, by 1960 Knopf had published works by André Gide, Thomas Mann, Sigrid Undset, D. H. Lawrence, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus, along with Americans such as Elizabeth Bowen, Dashiell Hammett, and John Hersey.
Knopf's role between 1924 and 1934 as publisher of the iconoclastic magazine The American Mercury, edited until 1933 by H. L. Mencken (another Knopf author), also testified to his cosmopolitan outlook. Moreover, the calibre of the works Knopf brought before the public was extraordinarily high. Sixteen Knopf authors—the largest number from any American publishing house—won Nobel Prizes in literature. Thanks to Knopf's special interest in history, he published such eminent scholars as R. R. Palmer, Samuel Eliot Morison, and Richard Hofstadter. The Knopf list as a whole reflected Alfred and Blanche Knopf's commitment to the finest literature of the day, irrespective of whether or not it would sell. The Knopfs' preoccupation with quality extended to the format of their books. From the richly textured paper to the colorful cover materials, to the carefully designed type, Knopf books exuded taste and painstaking workmanship.
Knopf's determination to uphold standards in the face of the commercialization of the publishing industry led him to deplore such phenomena as the rise of book clubs. Yet, in his own way, he was a master of marketing. His Borzoi colophon—the drawing of a Russian wolfhound which appeared on every Knopf book—justly became a symbol of excellence, but it also enabled Knopf to sell his product by the label alone. He was the first publisher to use photographs in testimonials, and he advertised books in spaces previously reserved for cars and cigarettes.
In 1958 the Knopfs' only child, Alfred, Jr. , resigned from the firm. Born in 1918, "Pat" Knopf had entered his parents' business as heir apparent, but when they showed no signs of relinquishing their control he left to found Atheneum Publishers. In 1960 Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. , was purchased by Random House, a subsidiary of RCA; both were subsequently bought by S. I. Newhouse. Although Knopf continued to influence the titles published under his imprint, including works by Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing, and John Updike, with advancing age he began to withdraw from the house's day-today operations.
Knopf died of congestive heart failure on August 11, 1984, at his estate in Purchase, New York.
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He was a devoted member of the American Historical Association.
Knopf's personality also helped to promote his books. Crusty and egotistical, he wore flamboyant shirts from the most exclusive tailors. His self-assured, irascible manner, together with his insistence on the best of everything, shaped his house's image as a purveyor of works of enduring value.
He married Blanche Wolf in 1916. Blanche Knopf died in 1966. The following year Knopf married Helen N. Hedrick, a novelist.