Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessment to form Cambridge University Press and Assessment under Queen Elizabeth II's approval in August 2021. However, the Press retains an independent existence within the larger entity.
With a global sales presence, publishing hubs, and offices in more than 40 countries, it has published over 50,000 titles by authors from over 100 countries. Its publications include more than 420 academic journals, monographs, reference works, school and university textbooks, and English language teaching and learning publications. It also publishes Bibles, runs a bookshop in Cambridge, sells through Amazon, and has a conference venues business in Cambridge at the Pitt Building and the Sir Geoffrey Cass Sports and Social Centre. It also serves as the King's Printer.
Cambridge University Press, as part of the University of Cambridge, is a non-profit organization. Cambridge University Press joined The Association of American Publishers trade organization in the Hachette v. Internet Archive lawsuit which resulted in the removal of access to over 500,000 books from global readers.
History
Cambridge University Press is the oldest university press in the world. It originated from letters patent granted to the University of Cambridge by Henry VIII in 1534. Cambridge was one of the two privileged presses. Authors published by Cambridge have included John Milton, William Harvey, Isaac Newton, Bertrand Russell, and Stephen Hawking.University printing began in Cambridge when the first practising University Printer, Thomas Thomas, set up a printing house in 1584. The first publication was a book, Two Treatises of the Lord His Holie Supper. In 1591, the first Cambridge Bible was printed by John Legate and in 1629, Cambridge folio edition of the King James Bible was printed by Thomas and John Buck.
In July 1697, the Duke of Somerset made a loan of £200 to the university "towards the printing house and press" and James Halman, Registrary of the university, lent £100 for the same purpose.
A new home for the press, The Pitt Building, on Trumpington Street in the centre of Cambridge was completed in 1833, which was designed by Edward Blore. It became a listed building in 1950.
In the early 1800s, the press pioneers the development of stereotype printing, allowing successive printings from one setting. The press began using steam-powered machine presses by the 1850s. It was in this period that the press turned down what later became the Oxford English Dictionary a proposal for which was brought to Cambridge by James Murray before he turned to Oxford.
The press journals publishing programme began in 1893 with the Journal of Physiology and then the Journal of Hygiene and Biometrika. By 1910 the press had become a well-established journal publisher with a successful list which includes its first humanities title, Modern Language Review. 1956 saw the first issue of the Journal of Fluid Mechanics.
The press has published >170 Nobel Prize winners, the first in 1895.
In 1913, the Monotype system of hot-metal mechanised typesetting was introduced at the press.
In 1949, the press opened its first international branch in New York.
The press moved to its current site in Cambridge in 1963. The mid-century modern building, University Printing House, was constructed in 1961–1963. The building was designed by Beard, Bennett, Wilkins and Partners.
In 1975, the press launched its English language teaching publishing business.
In 1981, the press moved to a new site on Shaftsbury Road. The Edinburgh Building was purpose-built with an adjoining warehouse to accommodate the press's expansion. It was built in 1979–80 by International Design and Construction. The site was demolished in 2017 to make way for the construction of Cambridge Assessment's Triangle Building.
In 1989, the press acquired the long-established Bible and prayer-book publisher Eyre & Spottiswoode, which gave the press the ancient and unique title of The Queen's Printer.
In 1992, the press opened a bookshop at 1 Trinity Street, Cambridge, which was the oldest-known bookshop site in Britain as books have been sold there since 1581. In 2008 the shop expanded into 27 Market Hill where its specialist Education and English Language Teaching shop opened the following year. The press bookshop sells Press books as well as Cambridge souvenirs such as mugs, diaries, bags, postcards, maps.
In 1993, the Cass Centre was opened to provide sports and social facilities for employees and their families.
In 1999, Cambridge Dictionaries Online was launched.
In 2012, the press sold its printing operation to MPG Books Group and now uses third parties around the world to provide its print publications.
In 2019, the press released a new concept in scholarly publishing through Cambridge Elements where authors whose works are either too short to be printed as a book or too long to qualify as a journal article could have these published within 12 weeks.
In 2021, Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessment. The new organisation was called Cambridge University Press & Assessment.
In 2022, Amira Bennison was elected chair of the Cambridge University Press academic committee, replacing Kenneth Armstrong.
| Name | From | To |
| Thomas Thomas | 1583 | 1588 |
| John Legate | 1588 | before 1593 |
| John Porter | before 1593 | 1606 |
| Cantrell Legge | 1606 | before 1608 |
| Thomas Brooke | before 1608 | 1622 |
| Thomas Buck | 1625 | ? |
| John Buck | ? | 1630 |
| Francis Buck | 1630 | 1632 |
| Roger Daniel | 1632 | 1650 |
| John Legate | 1650 | 1655 |
| John Field | 1655 | 1669 |
| Matthew Whinn | 1669 | |
| John Hayes | 1669 | 1680 |
| John Peck | 1680 | 1682 |
| Hugh Martin | 1682 | 1683 |
| James Jackson | 1683 | 1686 |
| H Jenkes | 1693 | 1697 |
| Jonathan Pindar | 1697 | 1705 |
| Cornelius Crownfield | 1705 | 1730 |
| Mary Fenner, Thomas & John James | 1734 | 1740 |
| Joseph Bentham | 1740 | 1758 |
| John Baskerville | 1758 | 1766 |
| John Archdeacon | 1766 | 1793 |
| John Burges | 1793 | 1802 |
| John Deighton | 1802 | 1804 |
| Andrew Wilson | 1804 | 1809 |
| John Smith | 1809 | 1836 |
| John William Parker | 1836 | 1854 |
| George Seeley | 1854 | |
| Charles John Clay | 1854 | 1882 |
| John Clay | 1882 | 1886 |
| Charles Felix Clay | 1886 | 1916 |
| James Bennet Peace | 1916 | 1923 |
| Walter Lewis | 1923 | 1945 |
| Brooke Crutchley | 1945 | 1974 |
| Euan Phillips | 1974 | 1976 |
| Harris Myers | 1976 | 1982 |
| Geoffrey Cass | 1982 | 1983 |
| Philip Allin | 1983 | 1991 |
| Geoffrey Cass | 1991 | 1992 |
| Anthony K Wilson | 1992 | 1999 |
| Jeremy Mynott | 1999 | 2002 |
| Stephen Bourne | 2002 | 2012 |
| Peter Phillips | 2011 | - |
Print and typographic heritage
People
- John Siberch, in 1521 the first printer in Cambridge
- John Baskerville, the official printer; his Cambridge edition of the King James Bible was considered his masterpiece
- Bruce Rogers, appointed 'printing expert' at the press for two years in 1917
- Stanley Morison, typographical advisor both to the press and to the Monotype Corporation from 1925 to 1954 and, from 1929, also to The Times newspaper
- John Dreyfus, joined the press in 1939 and became Assistant Printer in 1949
- David Kindersley, designed a special typeface, Meliorissimo, for the press's buildings, stationery, signs and vans
- John Peters, designer of Angelus, Castellar, Fleet Titling, and Traveller, chair of the Syndicate governing Cambridge University Press from 1981 to 2010. Sandars Reader in Bibliography in 2009–2010 and lectured on "From printer to publisher: Cambridge University Press transformed, 1950 to 2010."
Publications
- 1584: the press's first publication was a book, Two Treatises of the Lord His Holie Supper.
- 1591: the first Cambridge Bible was printed by John Legate
- 1629: Cambridge folio edition of the King James Bible was printed by Thomas and John Buck.
- 1633: The Temple by George Herbert includes "Easter Wings". The poem's words and lines are arranged on the page to create a visual image of its subject.
- 1713: the second edition of Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica was published by the press.
- 1763: John Baskerville's folio Bible, considered a masterpiece, uses his innovations with type, paper, ink, and the printing process.
- 1895: the first title by a Nobel Laureate was published: J. J. Thomson's Elements of the Mathematical Theory of Electricity and Magnetism.