the publishing house . for the person see alfred a. knopf sr. for other people named knopf see knopf surname . alfred a. knopf parent company knopf doubleday publishing group founded 1915 founder alfred a. knopf sr. country of origin united states headquarters location new york city new york official website knopf.knopfdoubleday.com alfred a. knopf inc. pronounced k n f with an audible k and silent p is a new york publishing house that was founded by alfred a. knopf sr. in 1915 . the publisher had a reputation for a pursuit of perfection and elegant taste . 1 it was acquired by random house in 1960 and is now part of the knopf doubleday publishing group . 2 the knopf publishing house is associated with its borzoi colophon shown at right which was designed by co founder blanche knopf in 1925 . 3 contents 1 history 2 awards 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit knopf was founded in 1915 by alfred a. knopf sr with a 5 000 advance from his father . 3 the first office was located in new york s candler building . the publishing house was officially incorporated in 1918 with alfred knopf as president blanche knopf as vice president and samuel knopf as treasurer . blanche and alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing european asian and latin american writers in addition to leading american literary trends . samuel knopf died in 1932 . william a. koshland joined the company in 1934 and worked with the firm for more than fifty years rising to take the positions of president and chairman of the board . blanche became president in 1957 when alfred became chairman of the board and worked steadily for the firm until her death in 1966 . alfred knopf retired in 1972 becoming chairman emeritus of the firm until his death in 1984 . alfred knopf also had a summer home in purchase new york . beginning in 1920 knopf also produced a chapbook for the purpose of promoting new books . the borzoi was published periodically over the years the first being a hardback called the borzoi and sometimes quarterly as the borzoi quarterly . 4 in 1923 knopf also started publishing periodicals beginning with the american mercury founded by h. l. mencken and george jean nathan which it published through 1934 . following the good neighbor policy blanche knopf visited south america in 1942 so the firm could start producing texts from there . she was one of the first publishers to visit europe after world war ii . her trips and those of other editors brought in new writers from europe south america and asia . alfred traveled to brazil in 1961 which spurred a corresponding interest on his part in south america . their son alfred pat jr. was hired on as secretary and trade books manager after the war . in a 1957 advertisement in the atlantic monthly alfred a. knopf published the borzoi credo . the credo includes a list of what knopf s beliefs for publishing including the statement that he never published an unworthy book . among a list of beliefs listed is the final one i believe that magazines movies television and radio will never replace good books . 5 in 1960 random house acquired alfred a. knopf . 3 it is believed that the decision to sell was prompted by alfred a. knopf jr. leaving knopf to found his own book company atheneum books in 1959 . 1 while there have been many notable editors at knopf there have only been three editors in chief alfred a. knopf sr. robert gottlieb and sonny mehta . 3 other influential editors at knopf included harold strauss japanese literature herbert weinstock biography of musical jargon composers judith jones culinary texts as well as angus cameron charles elliott gary fisketjon lee goerner ashbel green carol brown janeway michael magzis anne mccormick nancy nicholas daniel okrent regina ryan sophie wilkins and vicky wilson . knopf also employed literary scouts to good advantage . 6 a publisher of hardcover fiction and nonfiction knopf s list of authors includes albert camus john banville carl bernstein robert caro willa cather julia child bill clinton joan didion bret easton ellis james ellroy martin gardner lee h. hamilton kazuo ishiguro john keegan anne rice nella larsen jack london gabriel garc a m rquez cormac mccarthy toni morrison haruki murakami christopher paolini ezra pound dorothy richardson susan swan anne tyler andrew vachss james d. watson and elinor wylie . at least 17 nobel prize and 47 pulitzer prize winning authors have been published by knopf though they have also passed at times on subsequently notable books . 7 since its founding knopf has paid close attention to design and typography 8 employing notable designers and typographers including william addison dwiggins harry ford steven heller chip kidd lorraine louie bruce rogers rudolf ruzicka and beatrice warde . knopf books conclude with an unnumbered page titled a note on the type which describes the history of the typeface used for the book . in addition knopf books date the year of the book s current printing on the title page . knopf published textbooks until 1988 when random house s schools and colleges division was sold to mcgraw hill . 9 in 1991 knopf revived the everyman s library series originally published in england in the early 20th century . this series consists of classics of world literature in affordable hardcover editions . the series has grown over the years to include lines of children s classics and pocket poets . random house was acquired by bertelsmann in 1998 . 3 in late 2008 and early 2009 the knopf publishing group merged with doubleday to form the knopf doubleday publishing group . 10 random house has been owned since its 2013 merger of penguin group by penguin random house a joint venture between bertelsmann 53 % and pearson plc 47 % . many of knopf s hardcover books are published later as vintage paperbacks . vintage books is a sister imprint of random house . in 2015 knopf celebrated its 100th anniversary by publishing a commemorative book alfred a. knopf 1915 2015 a century of publishing . 11 awards edit year award category title author 2013 pulitzer prize 12 poetry stag s leap sharon olds 2011 pulitzer prize fiction a visit from the goon squad jennifer egan 2010 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography the first tycoon t.j. stiles 2007 pulitzer prize fiction the road cormac mccarthy 2005 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography de kooning an american master mark stevens and annalyn swan 2004 pulitzer prize poetry walking to martha s vineyard franz wright 2003 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography master of the senate robert a. caro 2002 pulitzer prize fiction empire falls richard russo 2001 pulitzer prize history founding brothers joseph j. ellis 1999 pulitzer prize poetry blizzard of one mark strand 1998 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography personal history katharine graham 1997 pulitzer prize history original meanings jack n. rakove 1996 pulitzer prize fiction independence day richard ford 1996 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography god a biography jack miles 1996 pulitzer prize history william cooper s town alan taylor 1995 pulitzer prize poetry the simple truth philip levine 1995 pulitzer prize general nonfiction the beak of the finch jonathan weiner 1993 pulitzer prize history the radicalism of the american revolution gordon s. wood 1992 pulitzer prize fiction a thousand acres jane smiley 1991 pulitzer prize history a midwife s tale laurel thatcher ulrich 1991 pulitzer prize fiction rabbit at rest john updike 1991 pulitzer prize poetry near changes mona van duyn 1989 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography oscar wilde richard ellmann 1989 pulitzer prize fiction breathing lessons anne tyler 1988 pulitzer prize history the launching of modern american science 1846 1876 robert v. bruce 1988 pulitzer prize history partial accounts william meredith 1988 pulitzer prize fiction beloved toni morrison 1987 pulitzer prize history voyagers to the west bernard bailyn 1987 pulitzer prize fiction a summons to memphis peter taylor 1986 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography louise bogan elizabeth frank 1986 pulitzer prize general nonfiction common ground j. anthony lukas 1982 pulitzer prize fiction rabbit is rich john updike 1981 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography peter the great robert k. massie 1981 pulitzer prize general nonfiction fin de si cle vienna carl e. schorske 1980 pulitzer prize history been in the storm so long leon f. litwack 1979 pulitzer prize fiction the stories of john cheever john cheever 1975 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography the power broker robert moses and the fall of new york robert a. caro 1973 pulitzer prize history people of paradox michael kammen 1970 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography huey long t. harry williams 1967 pulitzer prize history exploration and empire william h. goetzmann 1965 pulitzer prize fiction the keepers of the house shirley ann grau 1964 pulitzer prize general nonfiction anti intellectualism in american life richard hofstadter 1962 pulitzer prize history the triumphant empire thunder clouds gather in the west lawrence h. gipson 1961 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography charles sumner and the coming of the civil war david herbert donald 1960 pulitzer prize poetry heart s needle w. d. snodgrass 1956 pulitzer prize history the age of reform richard hofstadter 1955 pulitzer prize history collected poems wallace stevens wallace stevens 1951 pulitzer prize fiction the town conrad richter 1950 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography john quincy adams and the foundations of american foreign policy samuel flagg bemis 1946 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography son of the wilderness linnie marsh wolfe 1945 pulitzer prize novel a bell for adano john hersey 1945 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography george bancroft brahmin rebel russel blaine nye 1944 pulitzer prize biography or autobiography the american leonardo the life of samual b. morse carleton mabee 1934 pulitzer prize poetry collected verse robert hillyer 1927 pulitzer prize poetry fiddler s farewell leonora speyer 1923 pulitzer prize novel one of ours willa cather 2009 national book award 13 nonfiction the first tycoon t.j. stiles 2005 national book award nonfiction the year of magical thinking joan didion 2002 national book award nonfiction master of the senate robert a. caro 1997 national book award nonfiction american sphinx the character of thomas jefferson joseph j. ellis 1991 national book award nonfiction how we die sherwin b. nuland 1992 national book award fiction all the pretty horses cormac mccarthy 1991 national book award poetry what work is philip levine 1989 national book award fiction spartina john casey 1985 national book award nonfiction common ground j. anthony lukas 1983 national book award history voices of protest alan brinkley 1982 national book award fiction rabbit is rich john updike 1981 national book award first novel sister wolf ann arensberg 1981 national book award fiction paperback the stories of john cheever john cheever 1981 national book award general nonfiction china men maxine hong kingston 1981 national book award history paperback been in the storm so long leon f. litwack 1980 national book award autobiography hardcover by myself lauren bacall 1980 national book award current interest hardcover julia child and more company julia child 1980 national book award history paperback a distant mirror barbara w. tuchman 1980 national book award first novel birdy william wharton 1977 national book award contemporary thought the uses of enchantment bruno bettelheim 1976 national book award fiction j r william gaddis 1975 national book award contemporary affairs all god s dangers theodore rosengarten 1974 national book award biography macaulay john clive 1972 national book award poetry the collected works of frank o hara frank o hara 1970 national book award history and biography huey long t. harry williams 1967 national book award history and biography the enlightenment vol . 1 peter gay 1964 national book award fiction the centaur john updike 1962 national book award fiction the moviegoer walker percy 1961 national book award fiction the waters of kronos conrad richter 1955 national