Knopf, Alfred A.

Alfred A. Knopf, (born September 12, 1892, New York, New York, U.S.—died August 11, 1984, Purchase, New York), American publisher, the founder and longtime chairman of the prestigious publishing house Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Knopf graduated from Columbia University in 1912. After working for a short time at the publishing house of Doubleday, Page, & Company, he started his own firm in 1915. Knopf’s appreciation of contemporary literature and his broad range of literary contacts in the United States and abroad helped to make his publishing house a success, and he became known for the high literary quality of the cosmopolitan works that he published. He was able to attract many important writers through his personal attention to their publishing needs and through his commitment to high standards of craftsmanship in the production of their books. Knopf maintained strict control over the editorial content and commercial promotion of the books and paid special attention to their design and typography. His aim was to publish high-quality books, regardless of their sales potential, and he was said to be embarrassed by the success of his bestselling book, The Prophet (1923), by Khalil Gibran. By the time of Knopf’s death in 1984 the authors published by the Knopf house had garnered a total of 16 Nobel and 27 Pulitzer prizes. He also served as publisher from 1924 to 1934 of the American Mercury, an influential periodical that he cofounded with H.L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan in 1924.

In 1966 the Knopf concern became a subsidiary of Random House, Inc. (which was itself owned by Radio Corporation of America). Acquired by S.I. Newhouse and Sons in 1980, Random House was sold to Bertelsmann AG in 1998. Knopf became chairman emeritus of his firm in 1972.