Manchester University Press
Encyclopedia
University press
A university press is an academic, nonprofit publishing house that is typically affiliated with a large research university, and publishes work that has been reviewed by scholars in the field. It produces mainly scholarly works...
of the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and a publisher of academic books and journals. Manchester University Press has developed into an international publisher. It maintains its links with the University and is the third largest university press in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
after Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
and Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
.
Output
Manchester University Press publishes textbooks for academic teaching in higher education. It produces around 140 new books and sells around 150,000 books annually. It also publishes 11 journals: about half the output is exported.The historical legacy is still apparent: around one third of the books published today are on History. Other areas of expertise are Politics and International Law, Literature and Theatre Studies, and Visual Culture.
In the United States of America MUP books are marketed and distributed by Palgrave, in Canada by the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
Press, and in Australia by Footprint Books: all other global territories are covered from Manchester itself.
Management
From the ending of the agreement with Longmans (in the 1930s) all publishing functions had taken place in house; Editorial, Production, Marketing, Accounts and Distribution. However, in March 2006 the Accounts and Distribution function was outsourced to NBN International in Plymouth, allowing the business to expand. The offices of the Press are in the University's Coupland 3 Building (Old Medical School in the view above) and the former Manchester warehouse east of Oxford Road has been demolished. (The Press has moved around the campus many times in its history: most of its old homes no longer exist.)In 2007 the largest throughput of new publishing in the history of the Press was achieved with well over 150 new titles published, thanks in part to the Research Assessment Exercise, as well as the increased flexibility of the new distribution arrangement.
History
The Press was founded in 1904 (as the Publications Committee of the University), initially to publish academic research being undertaken at the Victoria University of ManchesterVictoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
. The office was accommodated in a house in Lime Grove. Distribution was then in the hands of Sherratt & Hughes of Manchester; from 1913 the distributors were Longmans, Green & Co. though this arrangement came to an end in the 1930s.
The Press was founded by Professor of History at Manchester University James Tait. His successor Thomas Tout was also from the University's History department, and between them they were in charge for the first 20 years of the Press's existence. H. M. McKechnie was secretary to the press from 1912 to 1949.
The offices of the Press moved several times to make way for other developments within the University. Since 1951 these have been Grove House, Oxford Road, then the former Dental Hospital and thirdly the Old Medical School (pictured above).