Paul-Joseph Angoulvent (April 21, 1899, at
Le Mans – July 27, 1976, near
Auxerre
Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...
) was a French museum curator and publisher trained at the
HEC Paris. He transformed and directed the
Presses Universitaires de France (PUF) beginning in 1934.
Biography
Paul-Joseph Angoulvent was curator of the Chalcographie du Louvre in the 1920s and 1930s. With Albert Morancé, an art editor and head of the
Réunion des Musées Nationaux
The Réunion des Musées Nationaux (RMN) is a French cultural umbrella organisation, an établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial (EPIC), formed in 2011, through the merger of the Paris National Museums and the Grand Palais.
It ...
, he published numerous catalogs and monographs from
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
museum funds.
In 1934, after the bankruptcy of the main publishing shareholder, he founded the Quadriga, a merger of Presses Universitaires de France, and the three publishers
Félix Alcan
Felix Mardochée Alcan (March 18, 1841 – February 18, 1925) was a French Jewish publisher and scholar, born in Metz. He was the grandson of Gerson Lévy, author of ''Orgue et Pioutim'', and son of Moyse Alcan, a well-known publisher at Metz.
H ...
(associated with the nephew of the latter, René Lisboa), Leroux (history editor) and Rieder (general literature). The merger met the needs of the expanding student population.
By 1941, during the German
Occupation
Occupation commonly refers to:
*Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment
*Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces
*Military occupation, th ...
, Angoulvent was launching a number of fast-moving book series, including most notably the
Que sais-je?
"Que sais-je?" (QSJ) (; Literally: "What do I know?", ) is an editorial collection published by the Presses universitaires de France (PUF). The aim of the series is to provide the lay reader with an accessible introduction to a field of study wr ...
collection. He focused on many innovations that brought immediate and sustainable success to the PUF. A key element of Angoulvent's strategy was the bottom-up, low-profit support of quality books for a wide audience.
In 1944 after the
Liberation
Liberation or liberate may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War
* "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode
* "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode
Gaming
* '' Liberati ...
, Angoulvent was convicted of ousting Pierre-Marcel Lévi, the Jewish director of his publishing house. Angoulvent, who was head of the Book Committee under the Occupation, was sentenced to pay Lévi (1) 242,406 francs in lump sum payments, (2) an amount equal to the total amount of his remuneration for two years preceding October 30, 1940, plus the interest on that sum; and (3) 250,000 francs in damages.
After 1945, Angoulvent maintained the new editorial equilibrium set up under the Occupation, but now under the defense of French culture and with a positive economic balance, despite the opposition shown by the academic traditionalists, such as
Louis Bréhier
Louis René Bréhier (; 5 August 1868 – 13 October 1951) was a French historian who specialized in Byzantine studies. His brother was the philosopher Émile Bréhier.
Biography
Louis Bréhier was born in Brest, France on 5 August 1868. He st ...
. Along with editorial diversification he added a focus on the export, modernization of production, and profitability of distribution.
An admirer of the American model, in 1960 Angoulvent published the manifesto ''L’Édition au pied du mur : Ouvrage manifeste'', highlighting the situation of French scientific publishing by pointing out the anarchy of relations between the public and private sectors.
Angoulvent remained president of PUF until 1968, and chairman of the supervisory board until 1974. His son Pierre Angoulvent was chairman of the board from 1968 to 1994.
Publications
* ''La Chalcographie du Louvre'', préf. Jean Guiffrey,
Musées nationaux, Paris et Union typographique, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges
*# 1926 : ''Histoire et descriptions des collections''
*# 1926 : ''Inventaire général et tables de recherche''
*# 1930 : ''Annexe I : La Description de l'Égypte''
*# 1930 : ''Annexe II : Les Galeries historiques de Versailles''
* 1929 : ''L'Église de Brou : Guide historique'', Union typographique, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges et Albert Morancé, Paris, 32 p.
** 1930 : ''The Church of Brou: Historical Guide'', Société d'éditions artistiques, Paris, 35 p.
* 1931 : ''L'Art du livre en France : Des origines à nos jours'', avec Frantz Calot et Louis-Marie Michon, préf.
Pol Neveux, Delagrave, Paris, 301 p.
* 1933 : ''Musée national du Louvre : La Chalcographie du Louvre, catalogue général'', préf. Jean Guiffrey,
Musées nationaux, Paris, 603 p.
* 1934 : ''Musée national du Louvre : Plan-guide illustré des salles et emplacement des principales œuvres'',
Musées nationaux, 112 p.
* 1960 : ''L'Édition française au pied du mur'', Presses universitaires de France, Paris, 88 p.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Angoulvent, Paul
1899 births
1976 deaths
Publishers (people) from Paris
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Curators from Paris