Presses universitaires de France (PUF, English: ''University Press of France''), founded in 1921 by
Paul Angoulvent
Paul-Joseph Angoulvent (April 21, 1899, at Le Mans – July 27, 1976, near Auxerre) was a French museum curator and publisher trained at the HEC Paris. He transformed and directed the Presses Universitaires de France (PUF) beginning in 1934.
B ...
(1899–1976), is the largest
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
university publishing house.
Recent company history
The financial and legal structure of the Presses Universitaires de France were completely restructured in 2000 and the original
cooperative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...
structure was abandoned. Companies that took stakes in PUF included
Flammarion Publishing
Groupe Flammarion () is a French publishing group, comprising many units, including its namesake, founded in 1876 by Ernest Flammarion, as well as units in distribution, sales, printing and bookshops (La Hune and Flammarion Center). Flammarion b ...
(17% in 2000, 18% currently) and insurer
Maaf Assurances (9%, 8% currently). In 2006, another insurance giant
Garantie Mutuelle des Fonctionnaires (GMF) injected capital into the PUF, taking a 16,4% stake in the publisher. A similar tendency toward the constitution of an
oligopoly
An oligopoly (from Greek ὀλίγος, ''oligos'' "few" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a market structure in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of large sellers or producers. Oligopolies often result f ...
has been observed by French newspapers, with titles like ''
Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'', ''
Libération
''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France' ...
'' or even ''
L'Humanité
''L'Humanité'' (; ), is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organ of the French Communist Party, and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, ''L'Humanité'' would not exist."
History and profile
Pre-World Wa ...
'' accepting to turn themselves toward private financing.
Que sais-je?
Almost all French students know the
collection ''
Que sais-je?'' (a quote from
Montaigne
Michel Eyquem, Sieur de Montaigne ( ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), also known as the Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a lit ...
: "What do I know?"), created in 1941 by Paul Angoulvent. The collection is based on a unique format of 128 pages, in which specialists are invited to ruminate a specific theme. Today, there are close to 4,000 titles, by 2,500 authors, constituting the world's largest paperback encyclopedia covering a broad range of subjects. Many of the titles have been translated into up to forty-three languages, while the PUF have sold around 160 million books (2004 figures) since first published. Its ISSN number is 0768-0066.
Collections
* Bibliothèque de philosophie contemporaine
* L'écologie en questions
* Écrits
* Éducation et société
* Épiméthée
* Éthique et philosophie morale
* Intervention philosophique
* Leviathan
* Le lien social
* Lignes d'art
* Le Nœud gordien
* Major
* Nouvelle Clio
* Perspectives critiques
* Quadrige
* Que sais-je?
"Que sais-je?" book series list
publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
* Science, histoire, société
* Sociologie d'aujourd'hui
* Thémis
* La Vie des Idées
References
External links
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