The University of Adelaide Press (UAP) was the book publishing arm of

The University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

. It published peer-reviewed scholarship in print and open access ebooks. Launched by author and Nobel Prize winner J M Coetzee it operated from 2009 to 2018, with the final work published in February 2019.

History

In the 1920s, around the time the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

established Australia's first university press, the University of Adelaide began publishing titles under various imprints. In partnership with printers, G Hassell & Co, the university produced leather-bound hand-tooled collectible works modeled on the output of

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. The Barr Smith Press imprint (named after the university's main library) was established in 1991, and published the correspondence of Joanna Elder and

Robert Barr Smith Robert Barr Smith (4 February 1824 – 20 November 1915) was an Australian businessman and philanthropist in Adelaide, South Australia. He was a partner in Elder Smith and Company from 1863 (now now Elders Limited). Early life and education Smi ...

in 1996. From 2005 to 2007, four books were published with the renamed ‘University of Adelaide Barr Smith Press’ under the directorship of John Emerson, who also ran the press under its UAP moniker from 2009.

Activities

The press was divided into two separate imprints, the ‘University of Adelaide Press’ and the ‘Barr Smith Press’. The University of Adelaide Press published peer-reviewed scholarship. The Barr Smith Press published works of interest about the history and activities of The University of Adelaide, including memoirs, biographies and histories of its clubs and institutions. As an open access publisher funded by the university, UAP titles were made available as free ebooks upon publication. As of 2015, more than half a million ebooks had been downloaded. UAP published around 80 titles in total over the 10 years of its operation, and they remain available as free PDFs on its webpage and for purchase in print form.

References

External links

University of Adelaide Press website
{{Authority control Book publishing companies of Australia Small press publishing companies University presses of Australia University of Adelaide Publishing companies established in 2009