Contents and Arrangement Collection View
Description:

The General Files series consists of correspondence with reviewers and authors as well as Editorial Board dossiers (reports by staff and readers); contract information; files describing each project's editorial, production, and manufacturing characteristics and concerns ("Manuscript Transmittal Forms"); copyright and permissions information; production schedules; copyeditors' stylesheets and designers' specification sheets; and promotion and marketing files. Not included in this series are documents maintained by the Press in electronic form.

The General Files series is arranged in five overlapping chronological runs and alphabetically by author within. Run 5 is further subdivided by decade.

Rand, 1962

1 folder

Rand, 1963

1 folder
Description:

This series consists of the files personally maintained by Walter H. Lippincott, director of the Press from 1986-2005. It includes and continues files maintained by Lippincott's predecessors, Datus C. Smith and Herbert Smith Bailey, Jr. The series contains project files and proposals, financial information, trustee and editorial board files, reports, printing files, and printed material. Of particular interest are files documenting the Press's publication of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein.

The order of the files at the time of their transfer has been retained.

Cohen, 1995

1 folder

White, 1993

1 folder

Pais, 1996

1 folder

Blake, 1997

1 folder
Description:

Consists of the minutes of the Princeton University Press's Editorial Board meetings from 1913 to 1990.

Arranged chronologically.

Description:

Consists of the minutes of the Princeton University Press's Board of Trustees meetings from 1906 to 1973.

Arranged chronologically.

Description:

This series consists of the Princeton University Press's catalogs, trade lists, fall and spring book listings, and direct mail brochures from 1914-2008.

Arranged chronologically.

Description:

The Review Clippings series consists of reviews of Princeton University Press titles clipped from the daily press. The clippings are loose with the exceptions of a few scrapbooks.

Arranged alphabetically by title of publication.

Description:

The Federal Tax Returns series consists of bound volumes including budget sheets, memos, and mail receipts.

Arranged chronologically.

Description:

The Production and Printing series contains information regarding the construction of a separate building plant under Herbert Bailey as well as files documenting printing plans and costs, orders, and vendors. Also included are binders of worksheets for reprinted titles.

The order of materials at the time of their transfer has been retained.

Description:

This series consists primarily of Princeton University Press stylebooks and pamphlets describing the history of the Press. Also included are announcements, financial statements (1963), Christmas pamphlets by H. L. Mencken, circulars, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous catalogs from other academic presses. This series is organized by subject.

The order of materials at the time of their transfer has been retained.

Scope and Contents

The Princeton University Press Records document the business acitivities of Princeton University Press. They include extensive files on works published by the press. The bulk of the collection is made up of the Press's General Files, which include correspondence with reviewers and authors as well as Editorial Board dossiers (reports by staff and readers); contract information; files describing each project's editorial, production, and manufacturing characteristics and concerns ("Manuscript Transmittal Forms"); copyright and permissions information; production schedules; copyeditors' stylesheets and designers' specification sheets; and promotion and marketing files. The records also include the files of three former directors, Datus C. Smith, Herbert S. Bailey, and Walter H. Lippincott, as well as review files, editorial board and board of trustees files, financial information, production files, and selected publications.

This collection consists of the Press's paper records only. Records maintained by the Press in electronic form are not included and remain at Princeton University Press.

Collection Creator Biography:

Princeton university press

Princeton University Press opened on 30 Nassau Street in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1905 with a capital of $25,000. Charles Scribner '1875 served as its first president. In 1910 the Press was reincorporated under an act providing for not-for-profit organizations "to establish, maintain, and operate a printing and publishing plant, for the promotion of education and scholarship, and to serve the University by its manufacturing and distributing publications." Its first incorporators were Charles Scribner, M. Taylor Pyne, Archibald D. Russell, Parker D. Handy, Clarence Blair Mitchell, Arthur H. Scribner, and Robert Bridges. In 1911, Mr. Scribner contributed the site for the Press at the corners of William and Charlton Streets as well as the Press building and much of the printing machinery.

Since the publication of its first book, Princeton University President John Witherspoon's Lectures in Moral Philosophy (1912), the P.U.P has published well over 2000 titles. Among these are such seminal works as Einstein's Theory of Relativity and von Neumann and Morgenstern's The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. The Press has also undertaken such long-range projects as the publication of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Julian Boyd, and The Papers of Woodrow Wilson, edited by Arthur Link. Since its 1905, the Press has also printed The Princeton Alumni Weekly.

Although closely connected with the University, the Princeton University Press is a separate corporation. Nine of its fifteen trustees must be members of the faculty or administration of the University or alumni. The president of Princeton University, an ex-officio trustee, appoints four faculty members to five-year terms on the editorial board, which controls the imprint of the Press.

Acquisition:

This collection was formed from a donation of author files and printed material given by Princeton University Press director Datus C. Smith and transfers of printed material from the Princeton University Archives. Additional files were transferred from Princeton University Press in 1994 , 2001 , and 2011 .

Appraisal

No material was separated during 2009 processing.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by John Buntin, Class of 1994, Kate Snow, Class of 1998 and Karla J. Vecchia in 1992, 1995 and in 2002. Finding aid written by John Buntin, Class of 1994, Kate Snow, Class of 1998 and Karla J. Vecchia in 1992, 1995 and in 2002. Finding aid updated by Regine Heberlein in 2011. Additional folder inventories prepared by Allysse Terrell, Class of 2014, and Alex Rodgers, Class of 2014.

Researchers are advised that box # 32 was accidentally skipped when assigning box numbers.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Princeton University Press Records; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/3484zg933
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • ReCAP (scarcpxm): Boxes 1-31; 33-554; 42A