Cambridge University Press
From Eureka
Cambridge University Press (known colloquially as CUP) is a publisher given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1534, and one of the two privileged presses (the other being Oxford University Press). It published its first book in 1584, and has published at least one book every year since then, making it the oldest publishing and printing house in the world. It is both an academic and educational publishing house, a printing factory, and the printer for official documents for the University of Cambridge. Authors published by CUP have included John Milton, William Harvey, Isaac Newton, Brian J. Ford and Stephen Hawking. CUP was first exempted from UK Corporation Tax in 1976 (for history, see [1]).
The Press is now a global organisation with a regional structure operating in the Americas, in UK/Europe/Middle-East/Africa, and in Asia-Pacific. Headquartered in Cambridge UK, the company has warehousing centres in Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, São Paulo and Singapore, with ofa year.fices and agents in many other countries. Its publishing output includes major ELT courses; tertiary textbooks and monographs; scientific and medical reference; professional lists in law, management and engineering; educational coursebooks; and e-learning materials for schools via the Cambridge-Hitachi joint venture. Its publications are aimed at markets worldwide, at all levels from primary school to postgraduate and professional. The Press also publishes Bibles, prayer books, and over 220 academic journals. It has 25,000 authors in 116 countries and issues between 1,500 and 2,000 new titles
Recently, Cambridge University Press has become embroiled in a controversy as a result of its decision to pulp — i.e., to destroy — all remaining copies of one of its publications. The Press agreed to cease future publication and to destroy all remaining stock of the 2006 book, Alms for Jihad: Charity and Terrorism in the Islamic World, by Burr and Collins, as part of a settlement of lawsuit brought by Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz. Cambridge's justification of its actions may be read here. Critics concerned about freedom of speech and the strictness of English libel laws have also made their case, e.g. here, here and here. The American Library Association recently issued a recommendation to libraries still holding Alms for Jihad: "Given the intense interest in the book, and the desire of readers to learn about the controversy first hand, we recommend that U.S. libraries keep the book available for their users."
References and Further Reading
This article incorporates material from the article Cambridge University Press on Wikipedia, which is licensed under the GFDL.
- David McKitterick, A History of Cambridge University Press, 3 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992-2004)
