The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American

university press A university press is an academic publishing house specializing in monographs and scholarly journals. They are often an integral component of a large research university. They publish work that has been reviewed by scholars in the field. They pro ...

, part of the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

. The university and the press are located in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The press publishes several series in the humanities and social sciences, including Illuminations—Cultural Formations of the Americas; Pitt Latin American Series; Pitt Series in Russian and East European Studies, Pittsburgh Series in Composition, Literary, and Culture; Pittsburgh/Konstanz Series in Philosophy and History of Science; Culture, Politics, and the Built Environment; Central Eurasia in Context, and Latinx and Latin American Profiles. The press is especially known for literary publishing, particularly its

Pitt Poetry Series The ''Pitt Poetry Series'', published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, is one of the largest and best known lists of contemporary American poetry. History The Pitt Poetry Series was established in 1968 by ...

, the

Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize The Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize is a major United States, American literary award for a first full-length book of poetry in the English language. This prize of the University of Pittsburgh Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Penn ...

, and the

Drue Heinz Literature Prize The Drue Heinz Literature Prize is a major American literary award for short fiction in the English language. This prize of the University of Pittsburgh Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States was initiated in 1981 by Drue Heinz and d ...

. The press also publishes the winner of the annual Donald Hall Prize, awarded by the

Association of Writers & Writing Programs The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) is a nonprofit literary organization that provides support, advocacy, resources, and community to nearly 50,000 writers, 500 college and university creative writing programs, and 125 writers' c ...

and the winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. One of its perennial bestselling titles is Thomas Bell's historical novel

Out of This Furnace Out or OUT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 * ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander * ''Out'' (2002 film), a Japanese ...

, reissued by the press in 1976.

History

20th century

The press was established in September 1936 by

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

John Gabbert Bowman John Gabbert Bowman (May 18, 1877 – December 2, 1962) was the tenth Chancellor (1921–1945) of the University of Pittsburgh and the ninth President (1911–1914) of the University of Iowa. He is best known for initiating and completing ...

Paul Mellon Paul Mellon (June 11, 1907 – February 2, 1999) was an American philanthropist and a horse breeding, breeder of thoroughbred horse racing, racehorses. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Muse ...

committed the majority of the necessary startup funding from the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust. Other contributors were the

Buhl Foundation Buhl may refer to: Places France * Buhl, Bas-Rhin * Buhl, Haut-Rhin * Buhl-Lorraine, Moselle Germany * Bühl (disambiguation) United States * Buhl, Alabama * Buhl, Idaho * Buhl, Minnesota People * Angie Buhl, American politician * Bob ...

, the

Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania (HSWP) is a cultural organization in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. History After several attempts during the early and mid-century to establish a historical society, an organization called Old Residents o ...

, and the university itself. The first full-time director of the press was Agnes Lynch Starrett, followed by Frederick A. Hetzel (1964–1994), Cynthia Miller (1995–2013), and Peter Kracht (2013–present). The press was housed on the fifth floor of the Eureka Building on Pitt's main campus in the

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

section of

21st century

In 2008, the press began making out-of-print scholarly books freely available on-line at the University of Pittsburgh Press Digital Editions collection through the University Library System's

D-Scribe Digital Publishing D-Scribe Digital Publishing is an open access electronic publishing program of the Hillman Library#University Library System, University Library System (ULS) of the University of Pittsburgh. It comprises over 100 thematic collections that together ...

program. By 2010, the University of Pittsburgh Press Digital Editions included more than 750 titles, and more than 350 previously out-of-print titles have been reissued in paperback format as Prologue Editions. The press is also collaborating with the University Library System on a new online scholarly journals program. Most of the journals are open access and published in electronic format only, while a few titles are also available in print editions through the Espresso Book Machine in the University Book Center. In 2010, the press received major funding from the Andrew W.

Mellon Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, commonly known as the Mellon Foundation, is a New York City-based private foundation with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the product of the 1969 merger ...

to develop a history of science list and expand its existing philosophy of science list, working in collaboration with the university's History and Philosophy of Science Department and World History Center. This new program will lead to a 50% increase in the number of new titles published by the press each year. In July 2013, the press moved into a new the university's Thomas Boulevard Library Resource Facility in the Point Breeze section of Pittsburgh in July 2013. The University of Pittsburgh Press is a Charter Member of the

Association of University Presses The Association of University Presses (AUPresses) is an association of nonprofit, mostly, but not exclusively, North American university presses. It is based in New York City. Until December 2017, it was known as the Association of American Univ ...

References

Bibliography

* * *University of Pittsburgh Press website (2006)
About the University of Pittsburgh Press
Retrieved January 10, 2006.

External links