Dover Publications, also known as Dover Books, is an American book
publisher
Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...
founded in 1941 by Hayward and Blanche Cirker. It primarily reissues books that are
out of print
An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book that is ...
from their original publishers. These are often, but not always, books in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
. The original published editions may be scarce or historically significant. Dover republishes these books, making them available at a significantly reduced cost.
Classic reprints
Dover reprints classic works of literature, classical
sheet music
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...
, and public-domain images from the 18th and 19th centuries. Dover also publishes an extensive collection of mathematical, scientific, and engineering texts. It often targets its reprints at a
niche market
A niche market is the subset of the market on which a product is appealed to a small group of consumers. The market niche defines the product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the ...
, such as
woodworking
Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.
History
Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked b ...
. Starting in 2015, the company branched out into
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...
reprints, overseen by Dover acquisitions editor and former comics writer and editor Drew Ford.
Most Dover reprints are photo facsimiles of the originals, retaining the original pagination and typeset, sometimes with a new introduction. Dover will usually add new and more colorful cover art to its paper-bound editions. They retitle some books to reflect modern dialect and categories. For example, the book ''Woodward's National Architect'' was retitled ''A Victorian Housebuilder's Guide''.
History
The Cirkers started the business selling
remaindered textbooks by mail. The company published its first book,
Jahnke and Emde's ''
Tables of Functions with Formulas and Curves
Paul Rudolf Eugen Jahnke (November 30, 1861, in Berlin – October 18, 1921, in Berlin) was a German mathematician.
Jahnke studied mathematics and physics at the University of Berlin, where he graduated in 1886. In 1889 he received his doctorate ...
'', when the German copyright was voided by the United States as a result of World War II. The book was an unexpected success and established the Dover business model of publishing esoteric works at a low price. One of Dover's best sellers was
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
's ''
The Principle of Relativity
In physics, the principle of relativity is the requirement that the equations describing the laws of physics have the same form in all admissible frames of reference.
For example, in the framework of special relativity, the Maxwell equations ha ...
'', which Einstein reluctantly agreed to republish despite his concerns that it was outdated.
Dover helped to transform the
paperback
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...
book market. In 1951 it issued some of the earliest standard-sized paperbacks, a format that became known as a
trade paperback. Since the 1960s, the vast majority of Dover's titles have been paper-bound books of various sizes. Dover paperbacks had sewn pages, unlike most paperbacks which were held together with glue and subject to page drop-out.
Beginning in the 1950s Dover also issued a series of ''Listen & Learn'' language courses prepared primarily using teachers from
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
.
For a time, Dover also published a catalog of
LP phonograph records. Some, such as selected recordings of
Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...
's solo and chamber works featuring pianist
Friedrich Wührer
Friedrich Wührer (29 June 1900 – 27 December 1975) was an Austrian- German pianist and piano pedagogue. He was a close associate and advocate of composer Franz Schmidt, whose music he edited and, in the case of the works for left hand alone, r ...
, were reissues of earlier monaural releases from other labels. Noteworthy among Dover's original issues was an extensive series documenting pianist
Beveridge Webster
Beveridge Webster (May 13, 1908, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – June 30, 1999, in Hanover, New Hampshire) was an American pianist and educator.
Biography
Beveridge Webster initially studied with his father, who was director of the Pittsburgh Co ...
in literature ranging from
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's
Hammerklavier sonata to the second piano sonata by
Roger Sessions
Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher, and writer on music. He had started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved towards complex harmonies and postromanticism, a ...
. In keeping with its thrifty philosophy, by using lower recording levels, leading to narrower grooves, Dover was able to include more minutes than usual on each LP; however, the lower recording levels meant more
noise
Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...
and more vulnerability to scratches. Dover's foray into recordings was not as successful as its core business of book republication, and the company eventually abandoned it.
Starting in the 1990s Dover has published a specialized line of low-cost reprints of public domain literature known as "
Dover Thrift Edition
Dover Thrift Editions are a series of paperback books published by Dover Publications starting in the 1990s. Thrift editions are printed economically and sold to consumers at a low price such as $1.00 to $2.50 in the United States, and £1.99 to ...
s", which are generally priced at US$5 or less. They also have several lines of foreign language books.
Hayward Cirker died in 2000 at the age of 82. In that same year, Dover Publications was acquired by Courier Corporation.
Courier was acquired by
RR Donnelley
R.R. Donnelley is an American integrated communications company that provides marketing and business communications, commercial printing, and related services. Its corporate headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. In 2007, R ...
in 2015. RR Donnelly split into three in 2016; Dover became part of
LSC Communications
LSC Communications is an American commercial printing company based in Chicago, Illinois, and, , a fully-owned subsidiary of Atlas Holdings. The company was established in 2016 as part of a corporate spin-off from RR Donnelley. It owns the publi ...
.
In 2020, LSC Communications, Inc. and 21 affiliated debtors filed
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
in the
.
The company was purchased in December 2020 by the private equity holding company
Atlas Holdings
Atlas Holdings is an American private equity business focussed on controlling investments in manufacturing and distribution industries. It was founded in 2002 in Greenwich, Connecticut by Andrew Bursky and Tim Fazio.
Its investments include Bovis ...
.
Blanche Cirker died in 2022.
Publications
*''
Textures: A Photographic Album for Artists and Designers'' (1966)
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Book publishing companies based in New York (state)
Public domain
Publishing companies established in 1941
American record labels
Classical music record labels
RR Donnelley