10:43 a.m., June 15, 2009----An exhibition, “Milestones in the History of the University of Delaware Press,” will be on display in the Information Room of the Morris Library from Monday, June 15, through Friday, Sept. 11.

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A statement from the July 1922 President's Report of University of Delaware President Walter Hullihen conveys the importance he placed on scholarly publishing. He wrote:

“Nothing . . . excepting always sound scholarship and adequate equipment for instruction, redounds more to the credit of an educational institution or adds more to its prestige than a Press bearing its name, wisely administered, and issuing only books and journals of acknowledged and permanent value which carry to other institutions of learning and to educated men in all parts of the world the name of the institution . . .”

Sharing that vision were Everett Johnson, publisher of the Newark Post and owner of the Press of Kells, and Joseph Odell, director of the Service Citizens, an organization supported by Pierre S. du Pont for the purpose of improving public schools in Delaware. Dr. Odell was interested in publishing books on public health, education, Americanization and community development, while President Hullihen sought national recognition of University of Delaware research.

Through the sale of stock, Service Citizens provided working capital needed to establish the University of Delaware Press, and Everett Johnson's Press of Kells supplied a local source of high-quality printing. The collaboration promised to be beneficial to all. From its inception until 1926, the University of Delaware Press published seven books, but became inactive after the death of Johnson in 1926 and the subsequent closing of the Press of Kells.

In 1949, a faculty publications committee initiated a monograph series, of which Dr. Anna J. De Armond's Andrew Bradford, Colonial Journalist was the first published. Thereafter, the University of Delaware Press entered into cooperative agreements with other nearby, larger university presses, including Rutgers, New York University and Temple.

In 1975, the University of Delaware Press joined Associated University Presses (AUP), a consortium of several smaller university presses located in eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. This arrangement allowed the University of Delaware Press to maintain its own imprint and editorial control while giving AUP responsibility for book production and distribution.

Today the University of Delaware Press publishes about 40 books each year. Currently its major strengths are in literary studies, especially Shakespeare, Renaissance and early modern literature; 18th century studies, art and culture; French literature of the 18th and 19th centuries; art history and history; and historical and cultural studies of Delaware and the Eastern Shore.

The University of Delaware Press is managed by a Board of Editors comprised of UD faculty from multiple departments. The Board of Editors is chaired by Dr. Donald C. Mell Jr., professor of English, and the managing editor is Karen G. Druliner.

The exhibition, “Milestones in the History of the University of Delaware Press,” depicts the beginnings of the University of Delaware Press and celebrates its achievements over the years. Featured are historical documents, photographs of key leaders and early publications of the University of Delaware Press, including National Education in the United States of America and Life of Eleuthere Irénée du Pont, from Contemporary Correspondence, 1772-1834, printed at the request of the du Pont family.

The exhibition also presents information about AUP and its founder, Thomas Yoseloff; a display of award-winning titles, colorful art history books; and photographs from the September 2006 celebration of the 30-year anniversary of the agreement with AUP.

A Web guide describes the books and other materials displayed in “Milestones in the History of the University of Delaware Press.”

Curators are Linda L. Stein, associate librarian, Reference Department, University of Delaware Library, and University of Delaware Press Web master; and Karen G. Druliner, managing editor of the University of Delaware Press.