KNOPF, ALFRED A.

KNOPF, ALFRED A. (Abraham; 1892–1984), U.S. book publisher. Born in New York City, Knopf graduated from Columbia College in 1912. He started his own publishing firm in 1915 after working for Doubleday, Page Publishing, and Mitchell Kennerley. Owner of a Russian wolfhound, he labeled his publications Borzoi Books. His insistence on excellent design and craftsmanship helped to raise book production standards in the United States and to attract many new authors to his ever-expanding list. His wife, blanche wolf knopf (1894–1966), active in the firm from the beginning, discovered many talented European writers. Alfred A. Knopf Inc. published translations of these works and specialized in producing books that were distinctive in their high-quality printing, binding, and design. Knopf paid close attention to the content of the books as well, tending to publish books with subject matter that interested him, such as history, sociology, and music. In addition to the foreign authors, Knopf published the works of many modern American writers, including James Baldwin, Dashiell Hammett, and Langston Hughes. Over time, 26 of Knopf 's authors – including Willa Cather, John Updike, John Cheever, Wallace Stevens, and Richard Hofstadter – won Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other American publishing house. The company also boasted 16 Nobel laureates, among them Thomas Mann and T.S. Eliot. For about a decade from 1924, Knopf published the monthly American Mercury, edited by H.L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan. By 1965 his firm had issued more than 5,000 titles. In 1959 his only son, Alfred A. Knopf, Jr., who had been with the firm for many years, became a founder-partner of Atheneum Publishers. In 1960 Knopf sold the company to   Random House, which was owned by his friend and Columbia schoolmate Bennett Cerf. (Israel Soifer / Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)