Hippocrene Books is an independent
US publishing
Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...
press located at 171 Madison Avenue,
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
NY 10016. Hippocrene specializes in
foreign language study guides, international
cookbook
A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes.
Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food.
Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (food), course (appetize ...
s, and Polish-interest publishing.
[
The foreign language catalog includes the Concise, Practical, and Standard Dictionary series, the travel-oriented Dictionary & Phrasebook series, and the Hippocrene Beginner's textbook series. In the past, Hippocrene has published ]book
A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...
s on folklore
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
, translations of classic literature, children's dictionaries, and travel guides.
The publishing side grew out of Optimum Book Marketing, established in 1970 by Polish immigrant George Blagowidow. The press takes its name from the mythical Hippocrene fountain associated with the Muses
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
, as seen in the company logo.
Hippocrene Books, Inc., is distributed to the trade by Two River Distribution, an Ingram brand.
History
Hippocrene was started by George Blagowidow,Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
to Russian parents and survived the Nazi occupation to escape communist Europe in 1945.[ After attending university in ]Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
, Belgium, he came to New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 1951, where he earned master’s and doctorate degrees in business from New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
.[ He worked at Doubleday, Macmillan, and '']Reader's Digest
''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
'' before starting his own publishing company with Hippocrene’s first list in spring 1972, featuring European literary classics in translation
Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...
, including '' The Doll'' by Polish novelist Bolesław Prus.[
In 1973 the company began distributing foreign-language dictionaries for a German company and continued to thrive in that niche.][ As of 2008, Hippocrene has published in over 112 languages, including Polish-interest books such as '' Quo Vadis'' by ]Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
-winning novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz.[
Polish-interest publishing led to the launch of the cookbook business, with the publishing of ''Best of Polish Cooking'', by Karen West, in 1983. This highly successful book was followed by the publication of ''The Polish Country Kitchen: Expanded Edition'' and ''Polish Holiday Cookery''. Hippocrene then expanded with additional ethnic cookbooks from other regions, publishing to date more than 80 titles.][
]
Notes
Further reading
* Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm, ''The Roots Are Polish,'' Toronto 2004, . (Contains a chapter on Hippocrene Books.)
External links
Hippocrene Books OnlineHippocrene Cooks
(Cooking Blog)
{{Authority control
Book publishing companies based in New York (state)
Small press publishing companies
Publishing companies established in 1970