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The ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' (, "
Pleiades The Pleiades (), also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance ...
Library") is a French editorial collection which was created in 1931 by Jacques Schiffrin, an independent young editor. Schiffrin wanted to provide the public with reference editions of the complete works of classic authors in a pocket format.
André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism ...
took an interest in Schiffrin's project and brought it into Gallimard, under which imprint it is still published. The Pléiade has a strong emphasis on works that were originally written in
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, though the collection also includes classics of world literature, such as bilingual editions of the works of
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, or French editions of
Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
's work. To date, more than eight hundred books have been published in the series, with eleven books generally published every year. The "entry into the Pléiade" is considered a major sign of recognition for an author in France, and it is extremely rare that a living author is published in the ''Pléiade''. In 1992, Gallimard and
Einaudi Einaudi is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Luigi Einaudi (1874–1961), Italian politician *Mario Einaudi (1905–1994), Italian political scientist, son of Luigi *Giulio Einaudi (1912–1999), Italian publisher, son o ...
began a similar series of literature in Italian, the '' Biblioteca della Pléiade''. The ''
Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published over 300 volumes by authors ran ...
'' series, launched in 1979, is a similar project in the United States inspired by the ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade''.


History

The ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' was founded by Jacques Schiffrin in 1931. The first volume published was the first tome of the complete works of
Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fr ...
, on 10 September 1931. André Gide and Jean Schlumberger, creators of the ''Nouvelle Revue française'' (NRF), took interest in this, and integrated the collection into Gallimard on 31 July 1936. In 1939, André Gide became the first author to be published while still living, with the partial publication of his diary. In 1940, Jacques Schiffrin was fired by
Gaston Gallimard Gaston Gallimard (; 18 January 1881 – 25 December 1975) was a French publisher. He founded ''La Nouvelle Revue Française'' in 1908, together with André Gide and Jean Schlumberger. In 1911 the trio established La Nouvelle Revue Française. I ...
because of the anti-Jewish laws. Jean Paulhan took the direction of the collection. After moving to New York to escape Nazism, Schiffrin became a founder of
Pantheon Books Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint with editorial independence. It is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.Random House, Inc. Datamonitor Company Profiles Authority: Retrieved 6/20/2007, from EBSCO Host Business Source ...
. Directors of the collection: * 1931–1940: Jacques Schiffrin * 1960–1966: Jean Ducourneau * 1966–1987: Pierre Buge * 1988–1996: Jacques Cotin * After 1997: Hugues Pradier


Books


Binding

Each of the volumes published presents a similar high-quality appearance: a leather binding, stamped in gold on the spine, enclosing a text block on bible paper, all in a practical small format. The use of bible paper allows the books to contain a high number of pages; it is common for a Pléiade book to contain 1,500. The leather covers of the books are also colour-coded according to period: 20th-century literature comes in tobacco leather; 19th-century, in emerald green; 18th-century, in blue; 17th-century, in Venetian red; 16th, in Corinthian brown; the Middle Ages, purple; Antiquity, green; spiritual texts, grey; and anthologies, in red. The books are sold in a transparent rhodoïd
dust jacket The dust jacket (sometimes book jacket, dust wrapper or dust cover) of a book is the detachable outer cover, usually made of paper and printed with text and illustrations. This outer cover has folded flaps that hold it to the front and back boo ...
, and inserted in a white printed cardboard slipcase, although multiple volumes are often sold in a single slipcase.


Edition

The books are critical editions, with annotations, comments, manuscript and editorial variants and accompanying documents. The preparation of these critical editions can take many years for a team of specialists, which accounts partly for the books' generally steep cost. For works written in languages other than French, new French translations are usually created. In the 1960s and 1970s, an '' Encyclopédie de la Pléiade'' in the same format was also created, under the direction of
Raymond Queneau Raymond Queneau (; 21 February 1903 – 25 October 1976) was a French novelist, poet, critic, editor and co-founder and president of Oulipo ('' Ouvroir de littérature potentielle''), notable for his wit and cynical humour. Biography Queneau w ...
.


Authors published

At the beginning of 2017, the collection includes nearly 800 books and more than 250 authors (collective works excluded): * ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' : 787 volumes; * ''Albums de la Pléiade'' : 56 volumes; * '' Encyclopédie de la Pléiade'' : 54 volumes The authors who were alive when published in the ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' are:


Albums

The ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' also publishes an Album de la Pléiade every Summer, which is an illustrated book in the same format as the rest of the series, usually dedicated to one of the writers but sometimes also dedicated to writers from a specific time period (1989 album) or to an important topic (1970 and 2009 albums) from the collection. The Albums are offered for free with the purchase of three books in the series. They are often collected.


See also

*
Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published over 300 volumes by authors ran ...


Notes and references


External links

*
Éditions Gallimard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bibliotheque de la Pleiade Editorial collections Series of books Book publishing companies of France Éditions Gallimard books