Monday 29 June 2015

BOOK LAUNCH Grown but not made

Congratulations to Edward Juler, who launched his new title Grown but not made last week at The Henry Moore Institute in Leeds.


Edward Juler speaking at the event
 

This title is the first detailed critical history of British Modernist sculpture’s interaction with modern biology. Discussing the significant influence of biologists and scientific philosophers such as D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson, Julian Huxley, J. S. Haldane and Alfred North Whitehead on interwar Modernist practice, this book provides radical new interpretations of the work of key British Modernist artists and critics, including Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Paul Nash and Herbert Read.

Find out more about the book.

Wednesday 17 June 2015

Emile and Isaac Pereire


By Helen Davies







Why do the lives and careers of Emile Pereire (180075) and his brother Isaac (18061880) fascinate us? Certainly, their achievements as railway entrepreneurs and bankers were extraordinary, but the answer also lies in the place and the religion in which they were born, the circumstances of their birth, and the dynamic era in which they lived. The French Revolution determined the course of their lives.

The Pereires were Sephardic Jews, among the first generation of Jews emancipated when, in January 1790, they became free and equal citizens of France. Although the Revolution benefited them in many ways, it also helped to bring Bordeaux, the city in which they were born, to its knees. This eighteenth-century
trading power-house lost the Atlantic slave trade on which its vast mercantile success had depended, and it felt very deeply the impact of constant war waged by France’s enemies, especially Britain.

The Bordeaux Sephardic community was, however, close-knit and socially cohesive, providing support for those of its members who became impoverished. The Pereires were beneficiaries of Sephardic welfare throughout their childhood, raised in a single parent, observant, Jewish household by their mother, a devout Sephardic woman.

Moving to Paris in the early 1820s as young adults they were introduced to the economist and political philosopher, Claude-Henri de Rouvroy, the Comte de Saint-Simon, a significant meeting which had an immediate impact on Emile and Isaac. On Saint-Simon’s death they became ardent followers of the movement which took his name, Saint-Simonianism. The Pereires contributed to a system of ideas which focused upon the importance of technology to industry, and which emphasised improvement of the lives of the poorest in society. Individuals would be classed according to their capacities and compensated for their works,
according to the Saint-Simonians. The Pereires could thus be described as “early socialists”.

Saint-Simonianism generated ideas and projects which became very lucrative, and were to put the Pereires among the foremost capitalists in Europe. The sheer scope and spectacular nature of their business enterprises are sufficient to grasp our attention. Following their introduction of the first passenger rail line to France (in 1837) they went on to establish some of the most important railways in Europe, in Italy, Switzerland, Spain and the Austro-Hungarian Empire as well as in France. To finance these enterprises they founded the first investment bank of any size in Europe, the Crédit Mobilier, which they replicated in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Rumania, Spain and the Ottoman Empire. Their shipping company, the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, carried the first regular mail and
passenger services between France and North America. They were significant urban developers, their Compagnie Immobilière constructing for the Baron Georges Haussmann, the Prefect of the Seine, huge swathes of Paris’ right bank. The Pereires also operated industrial laundries and companies distributing gas lighting, providing horse-drawn public transport and taxi services.

Their business interests generated enormous wealth and their style of living was
commensurate with others of France’s grande bourgeoisie --- an elaborately decorated mansion on the rue du Faubourg SaintHonoré; a château outside of Paris at Armainvilliers; a seaside resort at Arcachon; extensive collections of paintings and sculpture; extravagant entertainments. Their political association with and support for the Emperor Napoléon III, who had come to power after a coup d’état in 1851, was crucial to their business success, a relationship which had its murkier side. When the Crédit Mobilier failed in 1867, taking with it the savings of many small shareholders, this exacerbated a view popular in some circles that the brothers were corrupt, shady, buccaneers, intent on making themselves wealthy at the expense of poorer people. The truth was much more complex. Nevertheless, endless legal battles embroiled them.

Their personal story, while fascinating in its own right, also shows the dynamic change in the French economy over this period. It highlights the ideas which contributed to its shaping, and the equally radical transformation of French society and politics.

Emile and Isaac Pereire is available to buy now. 


Tuesday 2 June 2015

MUP to acquire forward collection from Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Manchester University Press is pleased to announce that it has acquired 58 forward titles from Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. Earlier this year, Bloomsbury Academic took the decision to cease commissioning new book projects in the areas of academic Politics, International Relations and Sociology. MUP will engage the former Bloomsbury Senior Commissioning Editor, Caroline Wintersgill, to oversee the smooth transition of forthcoming titles already under contract  through publication under the MUP imprint. This follows a strategic decision by MUP, which has a strong reputation within the Humanities, to increase the size and scope of its Social Science list.

Jonathan Glasspool, Managing Director of Bloomsbury Academic & Professional said, ‘We’re very pleased to have reached an agreement with Manchester University Press. The list will find a good home in MUP, which has a high-quality publishing programme in Politics and other Social Sciences – from monographs and edited collections to textbooks for course use. The decision will help us to invest further in core areas of academic publishing, on the back of our best year ever’.

 Frances Pinter, CEO of Manchester University Press said, ‘MUP  is thrilled to take these projects forward. The synergy of the books with our own publishing programme couldn’t be better. We greatly appreciate the editorial care taken by Bloomsbury in developing these projects and look forward to working with these excellent authors. The press has a commitment to marketing its books aggressively and creatively, and its books are distributed around the world (in the Americas, by Oxford University Press).’

About Manchester University Press:

Founded in 1904, MUP is the third oldest and third largest University Press in England, holding a global reputation as a publisher of international excellence. Focusing on the Humanities and Social Sciences, MUP publishes on average 160 new titles a year,16 journals and an active backlist of over 1,000 titles. With landmark titles such as Beginning Theory and acclaimed series such as the Revels Student Editions, MUP focuses on delivering independent thinking of the highest quality to a global audience, while continually seeking new ways to ensure that our publishing output is distinctive, innovative and responsive. We have actively led on applying new business models that facilitate Open Access for books as well as journals, working with outside partners and funding bodies. MUP has also partnered with the University of Manchester to develop Manchester Open Library (MOL). MUP’s  innovative publishing has been recognised through the winning of many prizes. Our books are available increasingly in a variety of ebook formats and a major backlist digitisation project is underway.

Contact Details: Dr Frances Pinter, 

About Bloomsbury Academic & Professional:

Bloomsbury Academic & Professional division has grown rapidly since its inception in 2008, and specialises in the humanities, social sciences, law and tax. Output of titles and services is over 1,400 per year. The division includes the active imprints of Bloomsbury Academic, Bloomsbury Professional, Methuen Drama, Arden Shakespeare, Hart, Fairchild Books, and the historic imprints of Berg Publishers, Bristol Classical Press, Continuum, and AVA Books. The division was winner of the IPG Independent Publisher of the Year Award and Frankfurt Book Fair Academic & Professional Publisher of the Year in 2013, and won Academic & Professional Publisher of the Year in both 2013 and 2014 at The Bookseller Annual UK Industry awards. Within the division, we publish many world-leading writers including Nobel laureates. A focus for the division is expanding its digital revenues. In addition to several thousand ebooks, we publish a rapidly-increasing range of digital subscription services, including the award-winning Berg Fashion Library, Bloomsbury Professional Tax and Law Online, the Churchill Archive, Drama Online, and Bloomsbury Collections. 

Contact Details: Jonathan Glasspool, jonathan.glasspool@bloomsbury.com; www.bloomsbury.com