About OUP (USA)
The History of Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press, Inc. (OUP USA) is linked to Oxford University Press in Oxford, England (OUP UK), which is a department of Oxford University and is the oldest and largest continuously operating university press in the world. The first book to be printed in Oxford—the Commentary on the Apostles’ Creed, attributed to St. Jerome, by Theodoric Rood—was printed in 1478, only two years after Caxton set up the first printing press in England, following the invention of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg in 1450.
The printing industry in Oxford developed in a somewhat haphazard fashion over the following century. It consisted of a number of short-lived private businesses, some patronized by Oxford University. But in 1586, the University itself obtained a decree from the Star Chamber confirming its privilege to print books. In the same year, Oxford University lent £100—a small fortune at that time—to a local bookseller, Joseph Barnes, to set up a press. Barnes produced many books now prized by collectors, including the first books printed at Oxford in Greek (1586) and Hebrew (1596), and Captain John Smith's Map of Virginia (1612). The Great Charter, secured by Archbishop Laud from King Charles I in 1632, increased the independence and latitude of the press, entitling the University to print "all manner of books," and approximately 300 books were printed before Mr. Barnes retired in 1617.
In 1633, the University first appointed Delegates to oversee this privilege. Minute books recording their deliberations date back to1668, and OUP UK as it exists today began to develop in a recognizable form from that time. To this day, the worldwide Press’s activities are overseen by Delegates. In the UK, the Delegates are appointed from the academic staff of Oxford University to "have charge of the affairs of the Press" and to govern it under the University statutes. The Delegates are actively involved in OUP UK’s publishing program, including that all books are referred to them for approval prior to publication and individual Delegates maintain an active dialogue with editors in their specialist subject areas. The operations of OUP UK are overseen by a board that includes the Vice Chancellor of the University and other University administrators, as well as a number of Delegates and officers of the Press.
The University established its right to print the King James Authorized Version of the Bible in the seventeenth century. This Bible Privilege formed the basis of a successful publishing business throughout the next two centuries and was the spur of OUP’s expansion. A Bible warehouse was set up in London, which later grew into a major publisher of books with educational and cultural content aimed at the general reader. Then, OUP began to expand internationally, starting with the opening of an American office in 1896.
Today, the OUP group of publishing companies constitutes the world's largest university press, being larger than all the American university presses and Cambridge University Press combined. Worldwide, the OUP group publishes more than 6,000 new titles a year and employs approximately 5,000 people across 50 countries. As a result of its diverse, international publishing program, the "Oxford University Press" imprimatur has become familiar worldwide, standing for scholarly, educational, and research excellence and authority.
The OUP group occupies a unique position in the publishing industry, managing a remarkably diverse international publishing program, but it is not publicly held. Titles published by the group include scholarly works in all academic disciplines; bibles; music; textbooks; children's books; materials for teaching English as a foreign language; dictionaries and reference books; professional books in fields such as law, brain science, and medicine; a burgeoning online publishing program of electronic resources and publications; and journals. Most of these publications are produced in Oxford and the U.S., the two major publishing centers associated with Oxford University. Additional publishing programs exist the world over, in such countries as Australia, Canada, China, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Africa, and Spain.
Oxford University Press in the United States
When it was initially opened in 1896, the American office was established simply to sell bibles published in Oxford. However, by the 1920’s, what was then a branch office of OUP UK began to produce books on its own. The first non-fiction work published by what is now OUP USA, The Life of Sir William Osler, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1926. Fourteen more Pulitzers, several National Books Awards, and over a dozen Bancroft Prizes in American history have followed since (see our list of Major Awards). Today OUP USA is Oxford University’s second major publishing center after OUP UK, producing annually nearly 500 titles. To read more about our diverse publishing programs, visit Core Businesses.
Organization and Aims of OUP USA
The two main offices of OUP USA are located in the heart of New York City and in Cary, North Carolina, which is located in the Research Triangle. OUP USA is a not-for-profit corporation, our mission being to publish works that further Oxford University’s objectives, including its objectives of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Thus aspiring to the same goals as the University, excellence, authority, and innovation are the cornerstones of our publishing philosophy. Our operations are overseen by a Board of Trustees and all of our publications are vetted by our own Delegates, who are leading scholars appointed from top U.S. institutions. In pursuit of our mission, we maintain an active scholarly publishing program, producing approximately 250 scholarly research monographs each year, as well as trade, textbooks, and professional titles. We have 8,400 books in print and we stock another 7,600 imports from OUP offices around the world. As mentioned above, OUP USA’s books garner numerous awards each year from academic and professional societies.
Here are the core areas we publish in:
Academic & Trade
Bibles
English Language Teaching
English as a Second Language
Higher Education
Law
Medicine
Oxford American Medical Publishing
Music
Journals
Oxford Online
Reference
School & Young Adult
Academic & Trade
OUP USA Academic & Trade acquires and publishes books in the humanities, social sciences, and the physical, natural, earth, atmospheric and life sciences. Our editors publish a wide range of books, including monographs (for which OUP is world-renowned), professional books, and serious non-fiction for educated readers. In the humanities OUP-USA publishes in literary and cultural studies, religion, philosophy, and classics. In the social sciences we publish in economics, politics, law, business, history, sociology, and linguistics. In the sciences OUP USA has a strong presence in chemistry, physics, engineering, earth and atmospheric sciences, ecology, metallurgy, molecular/cell biology, computer science, neuroscience, and psychology.
Bibles
Oxford University Press has published Bibles since 1675. As OUP USA carries this tradition forward, our mission is to produce Bibles of the highest quality for personal use, and study Bibles reflecting the best scholarship for university classes and individual instruction. We ask academic experts in each area of biblical studies to write our study materials, and we subject each contributor's submissions to rigorous editorial review and revision before we will publish it. We also review every Bible translation we publish, to make sure it maintains the standard of scholarship that our readers will expect and that it fulfills the intentions of its translator or committee. We publish Bibles for all readers and for all levels of scholarship, from graduate study to church-based discussion groups.
English Language Teaching (ELT/ESL)
Oxford University Press is widely recognized as a publisher of thoroughly researched and carefully developed materials for use with English language learners of all ages and proficiency levels. All ELT materials distributed by OUP USA are developed in close collaboration with educators across the country to ensure that they meet the needs of students and teachers in today's classrooms.
English as a Second Language (ESL)
Oxford University Press is known throughout the world as a publisher of innovative, thoroughly researched ESL materials, from courses and skills to professional books and journals. For more than 25 years, Oxford University Press has been devoted to publishing only the highest quality American English language materials. We are committed to publishing timely, relevant, and exciting materials for use with learners of all ages and language ability levels.
Higher Education
OUP USA's Higher Education Division is dedicated to producing textbooks and other products that reflect the highest scholarly standards, represent the most current pedagogical trends, and speak effectively to today's college students. We are committed to providing you content you trust at an extraordinary value. In furtherance of our not-for-profit mission, OUP USA offers the highest quality educational support at a reasonable price. Please visit our site to discover the breadth, quality, and value of our textbook offerings.
Law
Academic books constitute the backbone of our Law program, but our Law publications appeal to a wide range of audiences, from students to professionals and general readers. OUP USA Law division is expanding and quickly establishing a worldwide reputation as a first choice legal publisher. The recent acquisition of Oceana Publications reflects our commitment to developing our practitioner-oriented publishing program--one that embodies a tradition of commitment to high-quality resources and excellence in research. Our professional Law publishing program includes resources in hardbound, loose leaf, online, and journal formats within the practice areas of International Commercial Arbitration & Litigation, Banking & Finance, Intellectual Property, Information Technology, and Media Law, International Trade & Commercial Law, Corporate Law/Insolvencies, Environmental Law, Public International Law, and Terrorism.
Medicine
OUP USA is committed to publishing materials for the medical professional and is continually expanding its book program. Building on established lists and book series, including programs in Neurology/Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Public Health, Epidemiology, Medical Ethics, and Genetics, our program is moving into new and exciting areas in the US, especially in clinical medicine. We also have an extensive journals program. With the assistance of our medical advisors, we will continue to provide high-quality materials to the marketplace.
Oxford American Medical Publishing
The OUP group is one of the world's leaders in publishing medical books. As that standard bearer in the U.S., OUP USA is committed to providing the most accessible, up-to-date, and authoritative information to the medical community from the most distinguished thought leaders in their respective disciplines. In addition to books for physicians and other health care professionals, scholars, researchers, students, and general readers, we offer a wide array of corporate services, from bulk orders, to branded publications, to chapter reprints.
Music
Since 1923, OUP USA has been a leading publisher of concert, educational and sacred music. The list includes music by award-winning contemporary composers; an enormous range of choral repertoire from the early Renaissance to the 21st century; operas, ballets, and other stage works; orchestral music; and solos, ensembles, and teaching materials for all instruments and for performers at every level. OUP USA's book publishing program produces a large catalog of award-winning books about music for academics, professionals, students, and the general reader. As a leading university press with a mission of widely disseminating the highest quality scholarship, OUP USA's Music publishing program is dedicated to disseminating top-level scholarly work. Oxford also publishes some of the most respected music journals in the world, such as The Musical Quarterly and The Opera Quarterly.
Journals
OUP is widely recognized as one of the world's premier journal publishers, successfully combining traditional values of quality and service together with innovative use of the latest technologies. As a major international publisher of academic and research journals, Oxford publishes and develops journals in partnership with the world's most prestigious learned societies, all to bring high quality research to the widest possible audience. We publish over two hundred journals, ranging from Brain and Mind to the Journal of the American Academy of Religion.
Oxford Online
The OUP group is a major provider of online resources to libraries worldwide, including the acclaimed Oxford English Dictionary Online, American National Biography Online, and Oxford Reference online. In 2002, OUP acquired Grove Music Online and Grove Art Online. Oxford Scholarship Online is the latest addition to the online portfolio. More than 180 Oxford journals are also available online.
Reference
The OUP group is the world's leading publisher of reference works, the home of the redoubtable Oxford English Dictionary; acclaimed bilingual dictionaries in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, and other languages; exciting general reference works, including Oxford Companions, illustrated histories, anthologies, atlases, and encyclopedias; superb scholarly and professional works, such as the six-volume International Encyclopedia of Dance, the twenty-four-volume American National Biography (ANB), the Vatican Archives, and much more.
School & Young Adult
The OUP group is the only university press that publishes books for children and young adults, an effort that is a direct extension of our collective mission to disseminate knowledge to a broad public. The Young Adult department of the OUP group makes the work of leading scholars accessible to a new generation of middle school and high school students. We believe that books for young people deserve the same high levels of scholarship and editorial care for which Oxford University Press always has been known, but we also take great care to make our books appealing to young people. So, while our books are serious and comprehensive and reflect the latest scholarship, they are always lively and full of the stories and personalities that engage young readers.
1952 National Book Award (Science)
The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson
1956 Pulitzer Prize (Biography)
Benjamin Henry Latrobe by Talbot Faulkner Hamlin
1960 National Book Award (Biography)
James Joyce by Richard Ellmann
1969 Pulitzer Prize (History)
Origins of the Fifth Amendment by Leonard W. Levy (History)
1969 Pulitzer Prize (Biography)
The Man From New York: John Quinn and His Friends by Benjamin Lawrence Reid
1973 National Book Award (Arts and Letters)
Diderot by Arthur M. Wilson
1974 National Book Award (Biography)
Malcolm Lowry: A Biography by Douglas Day
1976 National Book Award (Arts and Letters)
The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell
1976 National Book Critics Circle Award (Criticism)
The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell
1979 Pulitzer Prize (History)
The Dred Scott Case by Don E. Fehrenbacher
1983 National Book Award (Science)
"Subtle is the Lord...": The Science and Life of Albert Einstein by Abraham Pais
1984 Pulitzer Prize (Biography)
Booker T. Washington: The Wizard of Tuskegee, 1901-1915 by Louis R. Harlan
1986 National Book Critics Circle Award (Biography/Autobiography)
The Life of Langston Hughes, Vol. I: 1902-1941 by Arnold Rampersad
1989 Pulitzer Prize (History)
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson
1992 Pulitzer Prize (History)
The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties by Mark E. Neely, Jr.
1995 Pulitzer Prize (Biography)
Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life by Joan D. Hedrick
1998 National Book Critics Circle Award (Criticism)
Visions of Jazz: The First Century by Gary Giddins
1999 Pulitzer Prize (History)
Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace
2000 Pulitzer Prize (History)
Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 by David M. Kennedy
2005 Pulitzer Prize (History)
Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer
2006 Pulitzer Prize (History)
Polio: An American Story by David M. Oshinsky
2008 Pulitzer Prize (History)
What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 by Daniel Walker Howe
Still curious about OUP?
Two standard works exist on the Press as a whole. In print, there is Peter Sutcliffe's The Oxford University Press: An Informal History. This mainly deals with the 19th and 20th centuries. For the dedicated historian interested in OUP before that, Harry Carter's out-of-print titleA History of the OUP to 1780 is the main source.
