Arno Press was a Manhattan-based publishing house founded by Arnold Zohn in 1963, specializing in reprinting rare and long out-of-print materials.[2]

Arno Press
Founded1963 (1963)
FounderArnold Zohn
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters location3 Park Avenue
New York, New York 10017 [1]
DistributionWorldwide
Publication typesBooks, historical reprints
Owner(s)The New York Times

History

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Zohn served 48 missions on a bomber crew during World War II, and when he returned home he entered the publishing world. He became vice-president of The New York Times, and later created his own publishing house, Arno Press, in 1963.[2] From the beginning, Zohn's business strategy was to reprint hardcover volumes of historical works and sell large orders to the then-growing number of libraries around the country.[3] In 1968, The New York Times purchased a controlling 51% of Arno Press, and in 1971 they purchased the rest.[4][5]

On September 23, 1970, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace formally presented the United Nations with a five-volume series set, Issues Before the General Assemblies of the United Nations (1946-1965), published by Arno Press.[6] Arnold Zohn attended the ceremony on behalf of Arno Press in the General Secretary's conference room. Joseph E. Johnson represented the Carnegie Endowment in his capacity as president, and Secretary General U Thant accepted the material on behalf of the United Nations.[6]

Herbert Cohen was named president of Arno Press on July 14, 1975, in an announcement by Sydney Gruson, executive vice-president of The New York Times Company.[7] He had previously served as executive vice-president of Arno Press since he joined the company in May 1972, and before that he was with Xerox Corporation's American Education Publications.[7]

The firm continued as part of Times Books in 1980, reducing its output.[5] In 1982 many of its titles were sold by Merrimack Book Service.[5] The imprint was licensed to Random House in 1984, then to the Henry Holt division of Macmillan in 2000.[5]

The Arno Press imprint was discontinued "around 1984."[5]

Legacy

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In their book American Woman, Italian Style: Italian Americana's Best Writings on Women, Carol Bonomo Albright and Christine Palamidessi Moore praised Arno Press for the "impressive and valuable array of materials on Italian Americans in the United States" in its thirty-nine-volume series, The Italian American Experience.[8]

Princeton English Professor Autumn Womack notes that Arno Press embarked on a "landmark republication project, The American Negro: His History and Literature" which "reissued hundreds of titles by and about Black life" between 1968-1971.[9]

Selected book series

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  • Abercrombie & Fitch Library[10]
  • Addiction in America: Drug Abuse & Alcoholism
  • Afro-American Culture Series (Series editor: Ulysses Lee)
  • America and the Holy Land
  • America in Two Centuries: An Inventory
  • American Business Abroad: Origins and Development of the Multinational Corporation (Advisor editor: Stuart Bruchey)
  • American Education: Its Men, Ideas & Institutions Series
  • American Ethnic Groups Series
  • American Farmers and the Rise of Agribusiness
  • The American Immigration Collection
  • American Journalists Series
  • American Labor: From Conspiracy to Collective Bargaining
  • The American Military Experience
  • American Negro: His History and Literature (140 vols.).[11] (General editor: William Loren Katz.)[12] Joint publisher: The New York Times.[13]
  • American Woman: Images and Realities
  • Ancient Economic History
  • The Anti-Slavery Crusade in America (70 vols.)
  • Architectural Treasures of Early America (Series editors: Russell F. Whitehead and Frank Chouteau Brown)
  • Arno Series of Contemporary Art
  • Aspects of Film (Advisor editor: Garth S. Jowett)
  • Asian Experience in North America Series
  • Best Plays Series
  • Bestseller Society series
  • Big Business: Economic Power in a Free Society
  • British Labour Struggles: Contemporary Pamphlets 1727-1850
  • The Chicano Heritage Series
  • Children and Youth: Social Problems and Social Policy
  • Classics in Psychology Series
  • Classics in Psychiatry series
  • Committee for Economic Development Research Studies
  • The Complete Book of Basketball: A New York Times Scrapbook History Series
  • Cookery Americana
  • The Development of Public Land Law in the United States
  • The Development of Science: Sources for the History of Science
  • Dissertations in European Economic History
  • Dissertations on Film
  • Dissertations on Sociology (Advisory editors: Harriet Zuckerman and Robert K. Merton)
  • The Eastern Europe Collection (Advisory editor: Harry Schwartz)
  • Essay Index Reprint Series
  • European Political Thought series (Advisory editor: J. P. (Jacob Peter) Mayer)[14]
  • Eyewitness Accounts of the American Revolution
  • Family in America
  • The Far Western Frontier
  • The First American Frontier Series
  • Flight : Its First Seventy-Five Years
  • Foreign Travelers in America 1810-1935
  • Foundation of Thanatology: Arno Press Continuing Series on Thanatology
  • The German Air Force in World War II
  • Gold: Historical and Economic Aspects
  • Golf Digest Classics
  • The Great Contemporary Issues Series
  • Greek History Series
  • Greek Texts and Commentaries
  • Historical Issues in Mental Health
  • History of Accounting Series
  • History of Broadcasting: Radio to Television
  • History of Ecology Series
  • History of Geology Series
  • History of Ideas in Ancient Greece
  • History of Paleontology
  • History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science
  • Homosexuality: Lesbians and Gay Men in Society, History, and Literature (Series editor: Jonathan Katz)[15]
  • International Finance (Advisory editor: Mira Wilkins)
  • The Irish-Americans Series
  • The Italian American Experience (39 vols.)[16]
  • International Labour Office: Studies and Reports
  • The Leisure Class in America (Advisory editor: Leon Stein)
  • Literature and History of Aviation (Advisory editor: James Gilbert)
  • The Literature of Cinema (Advisory editor: Martin S. Dworkin)
  • The Literature of Death and Dying
  • Literature of Mystery & Detection Series
  • The Literature of Photography
  • Lost Race and Adult Fantasy Fiction[17]
  • Mass Violence in America Series
  • Medicine and Society in America Series
  • Mental Illness and Social Policy: The American Experience
  • Metropolitan America
  • The Mexican American
  • Mid-American Frontier Collection (Advisory editor: Jerome O. Steffen)
  • The Middle East Collection
  • Modern Jewish Experience Series
  • Morals and Law in Ancient Greece
  • Museum of Modern Art Reprints
  • National Bureau of Economic Research Publications in Reprint series
  • Natural Sciences in America
  • Navies and Men
  • News in Print Series (Series editors: Mitchell Rapoport and Nancy Volkman)
  • The New York Times Film Reviews
  • Opera Biographies
  • Perspectives in Psychical Research Series
  • The Physically Handicapped in Society
  • Physician Travelers
  • Police in America
  • Popular Culture in America, 1800-1925 Series
  • Poverty U.S.A.: The Historical Record
  • Public Health in America
  • Publications of the Continuing Seminar on World Jewry
  • Publications of the Institute of the History of Medicine: The Johns Hopkins University
  • The Puerto Rican Experience Series
  • The Railroads
  • Religion in America
  • Research Library of Colonial Americana (General editor: Richard C. Robey)
  • Right Wing Individualist Tradition in America Series
  • Russia Observed
  • Science Fiction[18]
  • Select Bibliographies Reprint Series
  • Selected Works of Anthony Trollope
  • Sex, Marriage and Society
  • Short Story Index Reprint Series
  • Social Problems and Social Policy : The American Experience
  • Social Science Studies series
  • Sources of Modern Photography Series
  • Studies in Roman History
  • Supernatural and Occult Fiction[19]
  • Tate Gallery Publications
  • Technology and Society Series
  • The Use & Abuse of America's Natural Resources Series
  • United States Air Force Historical Studies
  • Utopian Literature Series[20]
  • Vietnam Studies
  • World Affairs, National and International Viewpoints
  • World Food Supply
  • Zoological Series

Selected publications

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Books

References

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  1. ^ "Addresses of publishers and organizations". Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly. 22 (2): 68–71. 1981. doi:10.1177/001088048102200216. S2CID 220639112.
  2. ^ a b Pace, Eric. "Arnold Zohn Dies, Began Arno Press". The New York Times, May 26, 1985, section 1, p. 32. Archived from the original.
  3. ^ Reginald, Robert, and Douglas Menville. "Introduction: The Arnold Zone." Classics of Fantastic Literature: Selected Review Essays. Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0809519187.
  4. ^ "Publisher: Arno Press."ISFDB. Archived from the original.
  5. ^ a b c d e "FOB: Firms Out of Business – Arno Press." Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, 2008. Archived from the original.
  6. ^ a b "U.N. Receives 5-Volume Set from Carnegie Endowment." The New York Times, September 24, 1970, p. 40.
  7. ^ a b "Herbert Cohen Heads Arno Press."The New York Times, July 15, 1976, p. 32. Archived from the original.
  8. ^ Albright, Carol Bonomo, and Christine Palamidessi Moore. "Materials from Arno Press: The Italian-American Woman."In: American Woman, Italian Style: Italian Americana's Best Writings on Women. Fordham University Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0823231751. Archived from the original. doi:10.5422/fordham/9780823231751.003.0031.
  9. ^ Lecture: Fall 2020 Workshop: Autumn Womack, "Reprinting the Past/Reordering Black Social Life" Sept. 21, 2020 hosted by University of Pennsylvania Workshop in the History of Material Texts [1]
  10. ^ Abercrombie & Fitch Library, seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  11. ^ Zohn, Arnold. Letter to the Editor. The New York Times, October 6, 1968, p. BR30.
  12. ^ Autumn Womack, "Reprinting the Past/Re-Ordering Black Social Life", American Literary History, Volume 32, Issue 4, Winter 2020, pp. 755–780. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  13. ^ Smith, Arthur L. (1972). "Review Essay: The American Negro: His History and Literature. New York: The New York Times and Arno Press, 1968-71, 140 Volumes. $1411.00 the Antislavery Crusade. New York: The New York Times and Arno Press, 1968-70, 70 Volumes. $650.00". Journal of Black Studies. 3: 117–119. doi:10.1177/002193477200300108. S2CID 144311277.
  14. ^ Max Weber and German politics, J. P. Mayer, European University Institute Library. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  15. ^ Homosexuality: Lesbians and Gay Men in Society, History, and Literature: Documents of the homosexual rights movement in Germany, 1836-1927 - Awards and Grants, ala.org. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  16. ^ Seller, Maxine (1976). "The Diversity of Italian America: New Materials from Arno Press—"The Italian American Experience"". Italian Americana. 2 (2): 255–269. JSTOR 29775893.
  17. ^ Publication Series: Lost Race and Adult Fantasy Fiction, isfdb.org. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  18. ^ Publication Series: Science Fiction (Arno Press), isfdb.org. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  19. ^ Publication Series: Supernatural and Occult Fiction, isfdb.org. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  20. ^ Publication Series: Utopian Literature, isfdb.org. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  21. ^ Ben Hur, A Tale of the Christ, worldcat.org. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  22. ^ Atrocity Propaganda, 1914-1919, worldcat.org. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
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