History of Oxford University Press: Volume IV

1970 to 2004

Edited by Keith Robbins

History of Oxford University Press

Written by 22 contributors, experts in their fields of history, publishing, and printing
Includes over 200 illustrations
Offers an in-depth view of a modern business with a cultural and educational mission, transforming itself under pressure from rapid economic and technological changes
Draws extensively on material from the recent archives of Oxford University Press, including interviews with leading participants in the story

History of Oxford University Press: Volume IV

1970 to 2004

Edited by Keith Robbins

History of Oxford University Press

Description

The story of Oxford University Press spans five centuries of printing and publishing. Beginning with the first presses set up in Oxford in the fifteenth century and the later establishment of a university printing house, it leads through the publication of bibles, scholarly works, and the Oxford English Dictionary, to a twentieth-century expansion that created the largest university press in the world, playing a part in research, education, and language learning in more than 50 countries. With access to extensive archives, the four-volume History of OUP traces the impact of long-term changes in printing technology and the business of publishing. It also considers the effects of wider trends in education, reading, and scholarship, in international trade and the spreading influence of the English language, and in cultural and social history - both in Oxford and through its presence around the world.

In the decades after 1970 Oxford University Press met new challenges but also a period of unprecedented growth. In this concluding volume, Keith Robbins and 21 expert contributors assess OUP's changing structure, its academic mission, and its business operations through years of economic turbulence and continuous technological change. The Press repositioned itself after 1970: it brought its London Business to Oxford, closed its Printing House, and rapidly developed new publishing for English language teaching in regions far beyond its traditional markets. Yet in an increasingly competitive worldwide industry, OUP remained the department of a major British university, sharing its commitment to excellence in scholarship and education. The resulting opportunities and sometimes tensions are traced here through detailed consideration of OUP's business decisions, the vast range of its publications, and the dynamic role of its overseas offices. Concluding in 2004 with new forms of digital publishing, The History of OUP sheds new light on the cultural, educational, and business life of the English-speaking world in the late twentieth century.

History of Oxford University Press: Volume IV

1970 to 2004

Edited by Keith Robbins

History of Oxford University Press

Preface, Keith Robbins
1. Repositioning Oxford University Press, 1970-2004, Keith Robbins
PART I: The Business of a University Press
2. The Waldock Report and After, 1970-1974, C. S. Nicholls
3. Business Performance, 1975-2004, Howard Cox and Daniel Raff
4. The Press and the Wider University, Lawrence Goldman
5a. Changing Focus, 1973-1989: Moving the London Business to Oxford, Adrian Bullock
5b. Changing Focus, 1973-1989: Distribution: Neasden to Corby, Dawn D'Arcy Nell
5c. Changing Focus, 1973-1989: The Closure of the Printing House, Angus Phillips
6. Sales and Marketing, Simon Wratten
7. Technology, Paul Luna
8. Design, Paul Luna
9. Working Life in Oxford, Nick Wilson
10. Architecture, Building Designs, and Jericho, William Whyte
PART II: Publications
11. Academic Publishing, Andrew Schuller
12. Trade Publishing, Angus Phillips
13. UK School Book Publishing, Simon Catling
14. Dictionaries and Reference, Elizabeth Knowles
15. Journals, Martin Richardson
16. Music Publishing, Bibles, and Hymnals, Simon Wright
17. The Poetry Question, Roy Foster
PART III: Publishing Worldwide
18. English Language Teaching, Dawn D'Arcy Nell
19. OUP Espana, Martin Richardson
20. New York, Thorin Tritter
21. Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, Thorin Tritter
22. East Asia, Atalanta Myerson
23. India, Padmini Ray Murray
24. Pakistan, Ali Raza
25. Africa, Dawn D'Arcy Nell
Conclusion, Keith Robbins

History of Oxford University Press: Volume IV

1970 to 2004

Edited by Keith Robbins

History of Oxford University Press

Author Information

Keith Robbins was educated at Bristol Grammar School, and Magdalen and St. Antony's Colleges in Oxford. He has lectured at the University of York, Bangor University, the University of Glasgow, and the University of Wales, Lampeter. He is the President of the Historical Association.

Contributors:

Adrian Bullock, Oxford Brookes University
Simon Catling, Oxford Brookes University
Howard Cox, University of Worcester
Roy Foster, emeritus, University of Oxford
Lawrence Goldman, Institute of Historical Research
Elizabeth Knowles, independent scholar
Paul Luna, independent scholar
Padmini Ray Murray, Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology
Atalanta Myerson, independent scholar
Dawn D'Arcy Nell, independent scholar
C. S. Nicholls, independent scholar
Angus Phillips, Oxford Brookes University
Daniel Raff, Wheaton Business School
Ali Raza, Zentrum Modern Orient
Martin Richardson, independent scholar
Keith Robbins, emeritus, University of Wales
Andrew Schuller, independent scholar
Thorin Tritter, independent scholar
William Whyte, University of Oxford
Nick Wilson, independent scholar
Simon Wratten, independent scholar
Simon Wright, Oxford University Press

History of Oxford University Press: Volume IV

1970 to 2004

Edited by Keith Robbins

History of Oxford University Press

From Our Blog

What's in the message?

Once upon a time, it could be believed that each advance in communications technology brought with it the probability, if not the certainty, of increased global harmony. The more that messages could be sent and received, the more the peoples of the world would understand each other. Innovators have not been slow to advance comprehensive claims for their achievements. Marconi, for example, selected 1912 as a year in which to suggest that radio, in apparently making war ridiculous, made it impossible.

Posted on July 11, 2017

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