Ardis Publishing (until 2002, Ardis Publishers) began in 1971, as the only publishing house outside of Russia dedicated to Russian literature in both English and Russian, Ardis was founded in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

, United States, by husband and wife scholars Carl R. Proffer and Ellendea C. Proffer. The Proffers had two goals for Ardis: one was to publish in

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

the "lost library" of twentieth-century Russian literature which had been censored and removed from

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

libraries A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

( Mandelstam, Tsvetaeva, Nabokov, among others); the other was to bring translations of contemporary writers working in the Soviet Union to the West. Ardis has published around 400 titles, roughly half in English, half in

. Ardis became important in the Soviet Union, and then acclaimed in the new Russia, because it published, in Russian, many works which could not be published there until the dawn of

Glasnost ''Glasnost'' ( ; , ) is a concept relating to openness and transparency. It has several general and specific meanings, including a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information and the inadmissi ...

. Such authors as Nabokov, Sokolov, Brodsky, Bitov, Iskander, Aksyonov and many others published in Russian with Ardis, and the books were smuggled back into the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Besides publishing new translations of the classics as well as academic guides, notable publications such as the ''Russian Literature Triquarterly'', and all but one of the main books of poetry by Brodsky, Carl Proffer facilitated Brodsky's coming to the United States, by assuring him of a job at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. In English, among many other titles, Ardis published the complete letters of

Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...

, major prose collections of Platonov, Remizov, Mandelstam and Tsvetaeva, and the only annotated translation of Bulgakov's ''

The Master and Margarita ''The Master and Margarita'' () is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940. A censored version, with several chapters cut by editors, was published posthumously in ''Moscow (magazine), Moscow'' magazine in ...

'', as well as major histories of eighteenth-century literature and the most inclusive anthology of Romantic literature. Translations of Bulgakov's major plays were also published by the Proffers, with Indiana University Press (rights have now reverted to Ellendea Proffer). The range of titles was very broad, ranging from Nabokov's translation of A Hero of our Time to Razgon's memoirs of the camps. A professor at the University of Michigan, Carl R. Proffer died in 1984 of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

at age 46. His wife Ellendea continued publishing and was awarded a

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

in 1989. The name Ardis comes from the novel '' Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle'' by

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...

. See: Ardis 25 years of Russian Literature, catalog for exhibit at the Library of Foreign literature, Moscow, May 28, 1996. Some, but not all of Ardis's English-language titles were sold to

The Overlook Press The Overlook Press is an American publishing house based in New York, New York which considers itself "a home for distinguished books that had been 'overlooked' by larger houses". History and operations The Overlook Press was formed in 1971 by ...

in 2002, which has begun reprinting selected titles of the Ardis back catalog. Ardis Publishing is an imprint owned by an American

independent publisher A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. However, when a distinction ...

Overlook Press The Overlook Press is an American publishing house based in New York, New York which considers itself "a home for distinguished books that had been 'overlooked' by larger houses". History and operations The Overlook Press was formed in 1971 by ...

. It should be mentioned that Overlook Press purchased only the rights to certain English-language titles, as well as the English-language name of Ardis Publishers. Ardis at Overlook specializes in English translations of

Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its Russian diaspora, émigrés, and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different e ...

, and has so far reprinted 26 of the original Ardis titles. The archive of the original Ardis Publishers is now housed at the Special Collections Library of the University of Michigan.Ardis Records (1971-2002, bulk 1980-1989)
umich.edu. Retrieved 24 August 2019.

References

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External links

Ardis Publishing website as it was at time of acquisition by The Overlook Press in January 2002
Book publishing companies based in New York City Publishing companies established in 1971 American companies established in 1971 1971 establishments in Michigan Censorship in the Soviet Union