Alfred A. Knopf Sr.
Alfred A. Knopf Sr. | |
---|---|
Carl van Vechten | |
Born | Alfred Abraham Knopf September 12, 1892 New York City, U.S. |
Died | August 11, 1984 Purchase, New York, U.S. | (aged 91)
Education | Columbia University |
Spouse | Blanche Wolf Knopf 1916–1966 (her death) |
Children | Alfred A. Knopf Jr. |
Relatives | Edwin H. Knopf (half-brother) |
Alfred Abraham Knopf Sr. (September 12, 1892 – August 11, 1984) was an American
Biography
Knopf was born into a
Alfred attended Columbia University,[2] where he was a pre-law student and a member of the Peithologian Society (a debating and literary club) and the Boar's Head Society.[3] He began to show an interest in publishing during his senior year, becoming advertising manager of an undergraduate magazine. His interest in publishing was allegedly fostered by a correspondence with British author John Galsworthy. Galsworthy was the subject of Knopf's senior thesis and after visiting Galsworthy in England, Knopf gave up his plans for a law career, and upon his return went into publishing.[2]
Knopf was introduced to his future wife and business partner, Blanche Knopf, at a party at the Lawrence Athletic Club in 1911.[2] Their relationship was built on their mutual interest in books. Blanche said of their relationship: "Alfred had realized I read books constantly and he had never met a girl who did ... I saw him and [all we did was] talk books, and nobody liked him--my family least of all. But I did, because I had someone to talk books to and we talked of making books...We decided we would get married and make books and publish them."[2] Alfred and Blanche were married on April 4, 1916.[4][5]
Knopf worked as a clerk at Doubleday[2] (1912–1913), then as an editorial assistant to Mitchell Kennerley (1914).
Knopf, along with Blanche Knopf, founded the publishing house Alfred A. Knopf in 1915.[2] The company initially emphasized European, especially Russian, literature, hence the choice of the borzoi as a colophon. At that time European literature was largely neglected by American publishers; Knopf published authors such as Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Joseph Conrad, E. M. Forster, Sigmund Freud, André Gide, Franz Kafka, D. H. Lawrence, Thomas Mann, W. Somerset Maugham, T. F. Powys, Wyndham Lewis and Jean-Paul Sartre. While Blanche was known as a superb editor, Alfred was always interested in more of the sales side than in editing.[6]
Knopf also published many American authors, including
Knopf himself was also an author. His writings include Some Random Recollections, Publishing Then and Now, Portrait of a Publisher, Blanche W. Knopf: July 30, 1894–June 4, 1966, and Sixty Photographs.
When the Knopfs' son
Random House itself eventually became a division of
Personality
Knopf had little enthusiasm for most of the changes that took place in the publishing industry during his lifetime. "Too many books are published, and they are overpriced", he told
Knopf was generally unimpressed with current literature, though he admired John Hersey, John Updike, Jorge Amado, and a few other contemporary authors. In Publishing Then and Now he wrote: "Frequently... our American author, whatever his age, experience in life, and technical knowledge, simply can't write. I don't mean that he is not the master of a prose style of elegance and distinction; I mean that he can't write simple straightforward and correct English. And here, only an exceptional editor will really help him." American authors are not very durable, he said in 1964, and "there are no giants in Europe now." Though twelve Knopf authors had won Nobel Prizes, Knopf acknowledged that "some Nobel Prize books aren't very good," calling Doctor Zhivago, for example, "incredibly tedious ... If Krushchev had banned it for dullness instead of its political implications, he might have been in the clear."
Among other authors he rejected were Sylvia Plath, Jack Kerouac, Anne Frank, George Orwell, Jorge Luis Borges, Vladimir Nabokov, Isaac Bashevis Singer and Anaïs Nin.[10] He turned down an early novel by Ursula K. Le Guin but encouraged her to keep writing.[11]
Knopf also lamented the "shockingly bad taste" that he felt characterizes much modern fiction, and warned of the danger of a "legal backlash" against pornography, and a possible revival of censorship.
This outspoken aspect of his character sometimes found voice in letters of complaint to hotels, restaurants, and stores that failed to meet his high standards. These letters grew increasingly frequent and more severe as he aged. One striking example is the six-year-long war of words he waged against the
Bibliography
- John Tebbel, A History of Book Publishing in the United States, Volume II: The Creation of an Industry, 1865–1919 (1975); Volume III: The Golden Age Between Two Wars, 1920–1940 (1978);
- Bennett Cerf, At Random, Random House, 1977;
- Alfred A. Knopf, Some Random Recollections, Typophiles, 1949; Publishing Then and Now, New York Public Library, 1964; Portrait of a Publisher, Typophiles, 1965;
- New Yorker, November 20, 1948, November 27, 1948, December 4, 1948;
- Saturday Review, August 29, 1964, November 29, 1975;
- Publishers Weekly, January 25, 1965, February 1, 1965, May 19, 1975;
- Current Biography, Wilson, 1966;
- The New York Times, September 12, 1972, September 12, 1977;
- New York Times Book Review, February 24, 1974;
- Saturday Review/World, August 10, 1974;
- W, October 31–November 7, 1975;
- Los Angeles Times, August 12, 1984;
- New York Times, August 12, 1984;
- Chicago Tribune, August 13, 1984;
- Newsweek, August 20, 1984;
- Time, August 20, 1984.
References
- ^ "Alfred A. Knopf | American publisher". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
- ^ OCLC 908176194.
- ISBN 9781137010780. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- OCLC 908176194.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
- OCLC 908176194.
- ^ Unruh, Wes (2014-11-01). "George Foster Peabody Awards Board Members". Archived from the original on 2019-05-10. Retrieved 2015-05-12.
- ^ Later acquired, in 1978, by Simon & Schuster
- ^ Mitgang, Herbert (12 August 1984). "ALFRED A. KNOPF, 91, IS DEAD; FOUNDER OF PUBLISHING HOUSE". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
- ^ Oshinsky, David (September 9, 2007), "No Thanks, Mr Nabokov", The New York Times, Sunday Book Review.
- ^ "The Art of Fiction No. 221: Ursula K. Le Guin," in The Paris Review, Fall 2013, p. 57.
- ^ "Alfred A. Knopf Inc. Records, Series Descriptions". Harry Ransom Center. University of Texas at Austin. Archived from the original on 2002-12-19. Retrieved 20 January 2014.