Emecé Editores
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Parent company | Grupo Planeta |
---|---|
Founded | 1939 |
Founder | Mariano Medina del Río and Álvaro de las Casas |
Country of origin | Argentina |
Headquarters location | Buenos Aires |
Official website | Emecé Editores Argentina |
Emecé Editores is an
, and the complete works of various authors.History
The company was founded in 1939 by Mariano Medina del Río, shortly after his arrival from Spain, with the literary collaboration of Álvaro de las Casas, and the support of Medina's former classmate Carlos Braun Menéndez. Emecé's name is derived from the first letters of some of the founders' names (specifically, Mariano, Carlos, Medina, and Casas). In Spanish, M is pronounced "eme" and C "ce".
During its early years, the company specialized in books about the region of Galicia, some written in the region's native language. In the subsequent decade, the company established its flagship series, "The Emecé Library of Universal Works" (La Biblioteca Emecé de Obras Universales). To this day, Emecé precedes its works with an epigram from Miguel de Cervantes, to whom the series is dedicated: that books "are honest entertainment, delight with their language, and amaze and suspend [disbelief] with their invention." (Spanish: "Sean de honesto entretenimiento, deleiten con el lenguaje y admiren y suspendan con la invención.")
Of the thousands of authors published by Emecé during the six decades of its existence, two names stand out—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, creator and illustrator of The Little Prince, the most popular book published by Emecé; and Jorge Luis Borges, arguably the most important Argentine author of the 20th century, whose work was edited and published by Emecé for forty-five years.
A group of distinguished collaborators edited several distinct collections at once. Eduardo Mallea created The Navy, The Chimera, and Great Essayists (El Navío, La Quimera y Grandes Ensayistas). Inspired by Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares, Emecé created The Seventh Circle (El Séptimo Círculo), a collection of detective fiction which has grown to include 350 titles, including the major works of Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, and James Hadley Chase.
Where possible, Emecé has attempted to include major works of artistic and cultural interest, ranging from
.In 1948, beginning with the publication of
However, Emecé does not confine itself to works of fiction. It has published
Emecé is one of the largest publishers in Argentina.
In 1989, Emecé opened a publisher in Barcelona, Spain. In 2000, Emecé Spain bought itself out and was renamed Ediciones Salamandra.[1] In May 2019, Salamandra was acquired by Penguin Random House.[2]
Imprints
Emece publishes books under the following collections:
- Biblioteca Jorge Luis Borges
- Biblioteca Adolfo Bioy Casares
- Grandes Novelistas
- Grandes Ensayistas
- Biblioteca Breve
- Formentor (Seix Barral)
- Cruz del Sur
- Lingua Franca
Emecé Award
In 1954, the "Emecé Literary Prize" ((in Spanish): Premio Emecé Argentina) was created, and was the competition of its kind to be established in Argentina. To this day it remains a means for new authors to gain recognition. Quite a few literary figures achieved success as a result of winning the prize, including
References
- ^ Mora, Rosa (9 October 2000). "Emecé cambia de nombre y se convierte en Salamandra". El País.
- ^ "Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial Acquires Ediciones Salamandra". 3 May 2019.
External links
- Emecé Editores in the Ibero-American Institute (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) catalogue, Berlin
- Emece catalogue, at Planeta Libros site (accessed 2016-09-24)