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The University of Nebraska Press, also known as UNP, was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of
scholarly The scholarly method or scholarship is the body of principles and practices used by scholars and academics to make their claims about the subject as valid and trustworthy as possible, and to make them known to the scholarly public. It is the me ...
and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the
University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univers ...
, the main campus of the
University of Nebraska system The University of Nebraska system is the public university system in the U.S. state of Nebraska. Founded in 1869 with one campus in Lincoln, the system has four university campuses and operates a two-year technical agriculture college and a hi ...
. UNP publishes primarily
non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...
books and
academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...
s, in both print and electronic editions. The press has particularly strong publishing programs in Native American studies, Western American history, sports, world and national affairs, and military history. The press has also been active in reprinting classic books from various genres, including
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
and
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
. Since its inception, UNP has published more than 4,000 books and 30 journals, adding another 150 new titles each year, making it the 12th largest university press in the United States. Since 2010, two of UNP's books have received the
Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...
, the highest honor bestowed on history books in the U.S.


History

UNP began in November 1941 at the prompting of University of Nebraska Chancellor Chauncey Borcher, who hired Emily Schossberger as UNP's first editor. UNP became the 32nd American university press and 7th in the Midwest. During Schossberger's 17-year tenure UNP published 97 books, primarily focused on regional titles and the works of
Louise Pound Louise Pound (June 30, 1872 – June 28, 1958) was an American folklorist, linguist, and college professor at the University of Nebraska. In 1955, Pound was the first woman elected president of the Modern Language Association, and in the same ...
,
Karl Shapiro Karl Jay Shapiro (November 10, 1913 – May 14, 2000) was an American poet. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1945 for his collection ''V-Letter and Other Poems''. He was appointed the fifth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the ...
, and
George W. Norris George William Norris (July 11, 1861September 2, 1944) was an American politician from the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. He served five terms in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican, from 1903 until 1913 ...
. Following Schossberger's departure, Bruce Nicoll became UNP's first official director and Virginia Faulkner became editor-in-chief. Nicoll led the UNP for 17 years and expanded its focus to publish books of more diverse backgrounds, not simply monographs for and by scholars. That led to the launch of UNP's first imprint in 1961, Bison Books, specializing in paperback books which would be sold in non-traditional places such as truck stops, drug stores, and gas stations. In 1966 the press expanded by creating distribution partnerships overseas. In 1975, Dave Gilbert became UNP director and reoriented Bison Books toward a more western focus. Gilbert also hired designer Richard Eckersley and his wife Dika to bring all book design in house. Gilbert eventually left UNP for a post at
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
and was succeeded by editor-in-chief Bill Regier, UNP's third full-time director. Regier expanded UNP's focus beyond the American West. UNP into foreign translations and literature, particularly France and Scandinavia, with three translation authors later receiving Nobel Prizes. By 1991, UNP had 2,000 books in print, was adding 100 new books a year, and had annual sales of $4.5 million. In 1995, Dan Ross took over as UNP's fourth director, expanding Bison Books to focus on sports books, especially baseball, resulting in UNP's highly regarded publishing program in sports. That same year UNP's annual sales topped $6 million, a 600 percent increase from 1980. By the early 2000s, Gary Dunham took over as director and in 2009 UNP sold its longtime warehouse in the Haymarket. With Donna Shear as editor-in-chief, Bison Books was redefined to solely represent books of the west and UNP in general switched to a print-on-demand model of publishing, coordinating the simultaneous release of e-books with the print editions. Shear also tripled journal production to 30 publications and in September 2011 the press entered into a collaborative publishing arrangement with the Jewish Publication Society, one of the oldest Jewish publishers in the United States. In April 2013, the press acquired Potomac Books, a publisher specializing in military and diplomatic topics. With the new additions, UNP surpassed $7 million in sales in 2015, moved up in status with the American Association of University Presses, and become the 12th largest university press in the country. Since 2010, two of the press' books have received the
Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...
, the highest honor bestowed on history books in the U.S.


Imprints


Nebraska

Under its Nebraska imprint, UNP publishes both scholarly and general interest books, with a particular focus on Native and Indigenous studies, history, sports history, American studies and cultural criticism, environmental studies, anthropology, and creative works. UNP publishes scholarly editions of the works of
Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including '' O Pioneers!'', '' The Song of the Lark'', and '' My Ántonia''. In 192 ...
, including the classics ''
My Ántonia ''My Ántonia'' ( ) is a novel published in 1918 by American writer Willa Cather, considered one of her best works. The novel tells the stories of an orphaned boy from Virginia, Jim Burden, and the elder daughter in a family of Bohemian immigra ...
'' and ''
O Pioneers! O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), pl ...
''.


Bison Books

Bison Books began in 1961 as UNP's first trade imprint and originally focused on inexpensive paperbacks of general-interest works in Western
Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...
. In 2013 Bison Books shifted its focus to the trans-Mississippi West. The imprint has featured the work of notable authors such as André Breton,
George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...
,
William F. Cody William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa, Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but ...
,
Loren Eiseley Loren Eiseley (September 3, 1907 – July 9, 1977) was an American anthropologist, educator, philosopher, and natural science writer, who taught and published books from the 1950s through the 1970s. He received many honorary degrees and was ...
, Michel Foucault,
Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quot ...
,
Wright Morris Wright Marion Morris (January 6, 1910 – April 25, 1998) was an American novelist, photographer, and essayist. He is known for his portrayals of the people and artifacts of the Great Plains in words and pictures, as well as for experimenting w ...
,
Tillie Olsen Tillie may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places in the United States * Tillie, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Tillie, Pennsylvania, a former populated place * Tillie Creek, California People * Tillie (name), a given name and surname Animal * Tilli ...
,
Mari Sandoz Mari Susette Sandoz (May 11, 1896 – March 10, 1966) was a Nebraska novelist, biographer, lecturer, and teacher. She became one of the West's foremost writers, and wrote extensively about pioneer life and the Plains Indians.Bristow, Dav ...
,
Wallace Stegner Wallace Earle Stegner (February 18, 1909 – April 13, 1993) was an American novelist, short story writer, environmentalism, environmentalist, and historian, often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U. ...
,
Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
,
Philip Wylie Philip Gordon Wylie (May 12, 1902 – October 25, 1971) was an American writer of works ranging from pulp science fiction, mysteries, social diatribes and satire to ecology and the threat of nuclear holocaust. Early life and career Born in Beve ...
, and Stefan Zweig.


Potomac Books

Potomac Books began in 1983 as Brassey's, Inc., the U.S. imprint of a longstanding British publishing enterprise that focused on military subjects. The trade imprint was then acquired by Books International in 1999 and renamed Potomac Books in 2004, expanding its catalog to include world and national affairs, presidential history, diplomats and diplomacy, and biography and memoir. UNP purchased Potomac Books in 2013.


Jewish Publication Society

The Jewish Publication Society, also known as JPS and originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
in 1888, JPS is especially well known for its English translation of the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' JPS Tanakh The New Jewish Publication Society of America Tanakh, first published in complete form in 1985, is a modern Jewish 'written from scratch' translation of the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible into English. It is based on revised editions of earli ...
. UNP purchased all of JPS's outstanding book inventory, and is responsible for the production, distribution, and marketing of all JPS publications, although JPS continues its operations from its Philadelphia headquarters, acquiring new manuscripts and developing new projects.


See also

* ''Prairie Schooner'' magazine * ''Nineteenth-Century French Studies'' (scholarly journal)


References


External links

*
"Fight Over a Beloved (and Lucrative) Book"
{{Authority control 1941 establishments in Nebraska American speculative fiction publishers Publishing companies established in 1941 University of Nebraska–Lincoln Nebraska, University of, Press American companies established in 1941