Some Account of the Oxford University Press, 1468-1921Oxford University Press
History
Some Account of the Oxford University Press, 1468-1921
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press; Printing -- England -- Oxford -- History
To-day the activities of the Press in or near Amen Corner, London, E.C.
4, are multifarious. From his bound stocks Mr. Milford is ready at short
notice to supply to the booksellers or booksellers’ agents any Clarendon
Press book, any Bible or Prayer Book, any of the books published by
himself as publisher to the University, such as Oxford Poets, World’s
Classics, Oxford Elementary Books, or by himself and Messrs. Hodder and
Stoughton—the Oxford Medical Publications—or for the numerous learned
bodies and American Universities for whom he is agent whether in the
United Kingdom or universally.
In the premises at Amen Corner alone it is estimated that upwards of
three quarters of a million books are at any one time in stock. Packing
and distribution is carried on in the basement and also at Falcon Square,
where the large export department operates. Mr. Milford also maintains at
Old Street a ‘quire’ department from which books in sheets are given out
to his own or other binderies, and in Aldersgate Street a bindery from
which many of the finest Bibles and other leather books are turned out.
The offices at Amen Corner are the centre of the selling activities
of the Press; from them is directed the policy of the branches of the
business at home and abroad. An institution so far-flung naturally causes
some confusion in the public mind. Inquiries from India have sometimes
been addressed to New York, and Mr. Horace Hart treasured an envelope
addressed to _The Controller of the Universe_. In general, however, it
is now widely understood that inquiries for books should be addressed
(by booksellers, or by the public, if the usual trade channels fail)
to _Oxford University Press_ in London or at the nearest Branch (New
York, Toronto, Melbourne, Cape Town, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Shanghai,
Copenhagen); questions about printing to _Controller, Clarendon Press,
Oxford_, and proposals for publication either to the nearest Branch or
direct to the _Secretary, Clarendon Press, Oxford_.
§ 5. _The Administration of the Press_
All the activities of the Press may be described as a function of the
corporation known as the _Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars_ of the
University of Oxford, acting through the Delegates of the Press. The
constitution of this Delegacy is in some respects peculiar. So long ago
as 1757 the statute promoted by Sir William Blackstone for the better
management of the Press established the principles of continuity and of
expert knowledge by the constitution of _Perpetual Delegates_; and these
principles have been maintained.
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