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17. The Press is a department of the University placed under the charge of the Delegacy of the University Press, a board composed of the Vice-Chancellor, Proctors, Assessor, and ten other Delegates appointed from members of Convocation (Statutes, Decrees and Regulations of the University of Oxford, 1969, Title VIII, Section II (pp. 42-3)). [This Statute is as drafted in the Report of the Commission of Inquiry (vol. 1, pp. 342-3), except for cl. 4, which reads 'The Delegates shall have charge of the affairs of the University Press and determine all matters relating to it'. (In the Report of the Commission this runs: 'The Delegates shall have charge of the affairs of the University Press, subject to any instructions they may be given by Council'.) We discuss this question in Chapter 5]
The Secretary to the Delegates, the Deputy Secretary, and the Printer to the University are included in the schedule which enumerates those 'whose offices qualify them to hold professorial fellowships' (Statutes, 1969, Chapter VII, Section V (pp. 393-4)). The accounts of the Delegacy are audited by an auditor appointed by Council, who transmits to the Vice-Chancellor a 'certificate as to correctness' which is subsequently presented to Council and published in the University Gazette (Statutes, 1969, Title VIII, Section II, cl. 7 (p. 43); cf. Chapter VIII, Section XIII, cl. 8 (p. 447)). So much and very little more is to be found in the University Statutes concerning the Press. [The only other provisions are for the appointment of extra numerum Delegates, for the presentation of copies of Clarendon Press books to institutions within the University, and for the supply of works published by the Press to the Curators of the Bodleian Library Œto be presented at the discretion of the Curators to foreign universities, libraries, and other learned institutions' (Statutes, 1969, pp. 82 and 468).]
18. The University Statutes and Decrees, with the exception only of what may be implied in the reference to the Delegates having 'charge of the affairs of the University Press', are wholly silent as to the functions and the duties of the Press in relation to the University and as to the scope of its activities as a Press. Equally, with the exception only of what may be implied by the word 'Secretary', the Statutes are at present wholly silent as to the duties of the Secretary to the Delegates of the Press. The Statutes, in short, give the impression to the uninstructed reader that the Press is a minor side of the University and the Secretary to the Delegates merely one of the more senior University officials. The reality is entirely different.
19. The Press in its own sphere is comparable in importance to the University itself, and the Secretary to the Delegates is the executive head of a publishing organization of national - indeed worldwide - importance. The real position of the Press, however, owing to the reticence which surrounds its affairs, is very imperfectly known to anyone in the University outside the Delegates. For this reason and for the proper understanding of our report, we think it essential to present at the outset a general picture of the Press as it appears today from the evidence submitted to us.
20. The dual position of the Press as at once a University department and a publishing business of national importance did not result from any deliberate decision or policy of the University. It has rather grown up gradually over the centuries as a result of initiatives taken by officers of the Press or by the Delegates. The present form of the organization of the Press and its significance in the book trade of the United Kingdom are thus largely to be explained by its history.
The facts stated in this section are taken from the Note on the History of the Press supplied to the Committee by the Delegates.
21. The first book printed in Oxford was a Commentary on the Apostles' Creed printed in 1478. Some of the seventeen books known to have been printed here between that date and 1486 bear the University arms. Printing was resumed between 1517 and 1519, and one of the books issued in this period had a privilege from the University, the earliest example of a form of book copyright in England.
22. After a gap of some sixty-five years the University lent £100 to a bookseller, Joseph Barnes, to set up a Press. Barnes's first book was issued in 1585 and printing has been carried on continuously at Oxford ever since that year. The Star Chamber decree of 1586 which forbade printing outside London expressly excepted the Press at Oxford (as also the one at Cambridge).
23. Archbishop Laud, when Chancellor of the University, played a notable part in promoting Oxford printing. In 1636 he secured a Royal Charter empowering the University to print books of all kinds. The work was given under licence to small printers in the town, but Laud provided that there should be a chief printer, whose duties were those of Editor and manager and who was required to be a Greek and Latin scholar.
24. During this period, in 1633, the first Delegates of the Press were appointed by the University.
25. No less notable was the contribution made later in the seventeenth century by Dr. John Fell, Dean of Christ Church and Vice-Chancellor. He conducted the long struggle with the Stationers' Company and the King's Printers from which the University's privilege of printing Bibles and Prayer Books emerged. He promoted the setting up of a paper mill at Wolvercote, and was instrumental in providing the Press with the printing house installed in the Sheldonian Theatre in 1668. With three partners, Dr. Fell leased from the University its right to print, gaining an international reputation for his books and making the collection of type-punches and matrices from which types known by his name are still cast by the Press. In 1690 the University received from his executors the printing equipment and remaining stock of books left by him to the University, and from that year dates the continuous history of the learned Press administered directly by a delegacy of the University.
26. In 1712-13 the Press's second home, the Clarendon Building (from which the imprint 'Oxford: At the Clarendon Press' derives) was built, largely out of the profits from the sale of Clarendon's History of the Great Rebellion. During the first half of the eighteenth century the 'learned side' of the Press suffered some decline which, however, was arrested by reforms inspired by the great lawyer, Sir William Blackstone, who was a Delegate. Bible printing, on the other hand, prospered, and by 1770 the Press had established a Bible warehouse in London.
27. In 1780 the Delegates took partners into the Printing business in order to obtain outside capital and regained sole control of the Printing Works only a century later.
Outgrowing the Clarendon Building, the Press moved to its present building in Walton Street upon its completion in 1830, and thereafter it continued steadily to expand. The Bible business grew and was diversified by the introduction of Oxford lndia Paper and by the publication (jointly with the Cambridge Press) of the Revised Version. Many editions of classical and modern texts were published.
In 1868 the Delegates entered on the publication of school books, and in 1884 the publication of the New English Dictionary (now known as the Oxford English Dictionary) began. In 1872 they acquired the Wolvercote Paper Mill.
28. The first Secretary to the Delegates was appointed in 1866 and the first full-time Secretary two years later. In 1867 a permanent Finance Committee of the Delegates was also set up.
29. The development of a London Business began about the same time. In 1864 distribution of the Clarendon Press secular books was entrusted to Alexander Macmillan as Publisher (i.e. distributor) to the University, but in 1875 was transferred to the manager of the Delegates' Bible Warehouse in London, also under the title of Publisher. The London house, as well as distributing Bibles, Prayer Books, and Clarendon Press publications, then began to issue books of a more general character, not requiring the specific approval of the Delegates though still within the limits of religious, scholarly, and educational publishing. This policy was actively promoted by Charles Cannan when he became Secretary in 1898 and by Humphrey Milford, whom he sent to London in 1906, and who was appointed as Publisher in 1913. As a result, a very large publishing business gradually developed in the London house alongside its sales and distribution activities. London books were then given the imprint 'Oxford University Press, London'. One feature of this development, important later in connection with the growth of the Press overseas, was the publication of educational books for African and Asian countries. Others were the creation of a special Music Department (1928) in London under the Publisher, and the building of a large bound-stock warehouse at Neasden as a part of the London Business, and therefore also the responsibility of the Publisher (1933).
30. The formation of branches of the Press overseas began in 1896 with the foundation in New York of an American Branch as an autonomous department of the Press, since 1948 responsible directly to the Delegates through the Secretary. Branches were then established in Canada (1904), Australia (1908), India (1912), and South Africa (1915); and more recently - since the Second World War -branches have been opened also in Pakistan, and in Africa and the Far East. All these other branches of the Press, unlike the New York Branch, were created as additions to the London Business under the Publisher.
31. The Press today therefore consists, under the Delegates and the Secretary, of five principal divisions:
(1) The CIarendon Press, headed by the Oxford Publisher and conducting the 'learned publishing' business of the Press.
(2) The London Business, headed by the Publisher and responsible for the sale and distribution of all Press books (including Clarendon Press books) and all 'general publishing' carried on by the Press throughout the world except in the United States.
(3) The New York Business, headed by the President, responsible for the sale and distribution of all Press books in the United States and carrying on a 'general publishing' business in the United States.
(4) The Printing Works, headed by the Printer, engaged mainly in printing for the University and for the Clarendon Press and London publishing businesses, but also taking a certain amount of outside work for learned societies, other universities, and other publishers.
(5) The Paper Mill, headed by the Controller and producing mainly high-grade paper, of which part is used for Press publishing but the bulk sold to outside customers.
32. To assist the reader and abbreviate our description of the Press, we include on page 21 a chart showing its general structure and organization (Figure 1, below) and in the appropriate places below we include separate charts showing the detailed organization of the five principal divisions. The functions of each division are discussed in greater detail in Chapters 3 and 4 below, but it is convenient to summarize in this chapter the main role of each of the publishing divisions, leaving aside for the time being the two 'manufacturing' departments, the Printing Works and the Paper Mill - both very substantial parts of the organization.
33. The Clarendon Press. The function of the Clarendon Press, as defined by the Delegates, is 'to carry out the purposes of the University by the publication of scholarly books and also of educational books for the United Kingdom market'. In general, this means that Clarendon Press publishing embraces:
(a) 'learned' books, whether on 'arts' or 'science' subjects, 'Oxford' histories and anthologies, and college textbooks;
(b) dictionaries, companions, and other reference books;
(c) school textbooks and reference books for the United Kingdom market at all levels;
(d) maps and atlases in both the 'learned' and school ranges;
(e) learned journals.
All the editorial work for Clarendon Press books is done by the editorial staff in Oxford. In principle, every individual book proposed for publication by the Clarendon Press is submitted separately to the Delegates for decision. Proposals of the Education Department for school books are, however, now considered individually by the Delegates only if they are of some academic interest, initiate a new series, or involve exceptional expense.
34. In addition, it is the Clarendon Press which undertakes, at a loss, [see Chapter 4, para. 167] all the official publications of the University, i.e. the Gazette and its numerous supplements, the Calendar, Statutes, Almanack, Handbook, Examination Decrees, Residents' List, Pocket Diary, sundry pamphlets and such special publications as the volumes of evidence of the Franks Commission of Inquiry.
35. The Cartographic Department established in 1946 and now housed separately in St. Giles' is a distinct section of the Clarendon Press, and unlike other sections it acts as a producer of books for the London Business (especially its overseas branches), for the New York Business, and also for outside publishers. (A chart representing diagrammatically the organization of the Clarendon Press will be found at p. 81.)
36. The activities of the Clarendon Press, with one exception, are virtually confined to the editorial and production sides of publishing. The exception is that, owing to the special nature of the school-book market, the Education Department has its own publicity section in Oxford for the 'promotion' of Clarendon Press school books; and this section is also responsible for publicizing and promoting in the United Kingdom schools market any other Press books of interest to schools, whether issuing from other sectors of the Clarendon Press Department or from London. Otherwise, practically all publicity, promotion, sales, and distribution activities carried out in connection with Clarendon Press books are the responsibility of the London Business and its overseas branches and, in the United States, of the New York Business.
37. The head of the Clarendon Press, until recently, was the Secretary, who thus had three roles: Secretary to the Delegates, manager of the Press as a whole, and head of the Clarendon Press. In recent years the Secretary has been so fully occupied with the general management of the Press as to be unable to give detailed supervision to the operations of the Clarendon Press, and much of this responsibility has fallen on the Assistant Secretary. The Delegates have recently decided to free the Secretary from his Clarendon Press duties and have appointed the former Assistant Secretary, with effect from 1 January 1970, as Head of the Clarendon Press with the title of 'Deputy Secretary and Oxford Publisher'. (We understand that it is not the intention of the Delegates that the posts of Deputy Secretary and Oxford Publisher should in future always be held by the same person.)
38. The London Business. (A chart representing diagrammatically the structure of the London Business will be found at p. 85.) The growth of the London Business from the establishment of a Bible warehouse in London has already been outlined. Its primary function is still to promote, distribute, and sell throughout the world, except the United States, all the publications of the Press. This is true both of the London Office, despite its large publishing business, and of the overseas branches and offices which, although many do some local publishing, were created essentially as agencies for the promotion, distribution, and sale of the Clarendon Press and London publications. In the United States this function is performed by the New York Business and the role of the London Business is therefore limited to supplying New York with stock from the two other publishing departments.
39. The secondary function of the London Business is to publish books within certain defined fields and markets on a profit-making basis with a view to generating financial resources for the Press and to supporting the promotion, distribution, and sales activities of the department. The definition of these fields and markets is determined by the status of the Press as the Press of this University and by its purposes in the light of that status. Subject to this overriding consideration, the Delegates have authorized the London Business to engage in publishing within wide limits, provided that the books published merit the University's imprint and are not expected to lose money. The Delegates, however, consider the proper use of the University's imprint as excluding certain categories of books, such as current fiction, ephemeral biography, etc.
40. There is inevitably some overlap in the publishing fields of the London Business and the Clarendon Press, and some flexibility in their boundaries. The broad lines of division which have guided the publishing activities of the two departments during the past twenty-five years were described by the Delegates as follows: 'In general, London develops the more practical as distinct from the scientific part; the more topical and controversial subjects, e.g. current affairs, contemporary literature and criticism; the educational field in countries where English is not the native tongue.' At the present time a major contribution of the Press as an educational publisher is the provision by the London Business and its branches of textbooks in languages other than English, educational works in English for use in countries where English is not the main language, and especially books for use in teaching English as a second language.
41. No commitment to publish is entered into by the London Office before consideration by the Delegates, except for specialist books, such as medical, children's, overseas educational, and religious service books, and sheet music. Books for publication by the London Office are brought before the Delegates, however, not individually as in the case of Clarendon Press books, but in a list submitted in advance of the meeting. At the meeting it is open to any Delegate to raise a query on any item on the list; but the books are not considered title by title and it appears that it is extremely unusual for the Delegates to withhold their approval from a book on the London Office list.
42. The overseas branches of the London Business engage to varying degrees in local publishing in both English and local languages, with education as their primary field. They are controlled by the London Office as to their publishing policies, and each Branch Manager has standing instructions. But London does not control their publishing in detail, and within the limits of their instructions the Branch Managers have a considerable degree of autonomy. Although London expects to be informed as soon as possible, individual publishing projects under consideration by a branch do not have to be referred back before decision. Branches also produce some local reprints of United Kingdom titles, and in some import sheet stock from London or Oxford to bind up as editions.
43. The London Business also publishes a number of books for learned bodies in the United Kingdom, such as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, and for certain other Universities. Some of these are published at the Press's own risk, but the majority are published on full commission. The London Business further assists a number of younger University Presses in the United States and elsewhere by importing, stocking, and distributing their books in the British market.
44. The New York Business. (A chart showing the organization of the New York Business will be found at p. 90) This differs from the other publishing divisions in that it is incorporated separately under American law as a private company. All the shares are owned by the Delegates, the Secretary to the Delegates is ex-officio Chairman of the Board, and the Board is directly answerable to the Delegates. We were told that this difference in status 'does not in any way affect the control of the business by the Delegates'. The executive officer of O.U.P. (N.Y.) is the President.
45. The primary objective of the New York Business was described to us as 'the maximum distribution within the United States of learned books emanating from the Clarendon Press', its editorial policies and publishing practices being 'geared to this objective'. O.U.P. (N.Y.) also handles the sale in the United States of books published by the London Business and its various branches. O.U.P. (N.Y.) does not therefore, without specific authorization from Oxford, publish learned works on its own account except in the fields of American History and Literature (American being taken to include the whole of North and South America). It does, however, publish 'general trade books' and educational books, especially (and most importantly) college textbooks. There is close consultation to avoid overlap and clashing of interest, but the books published in New York are only reported to the Delegates and do not require prior approval.
46. Even as brief a sketch as that given above serves to indicate the scope and complexity of the publishing operations of the Press, but gives no indication of its size. In fact the Oxford University Press, judged by the criterion of the number of titles published each year, is the largest publishing house in the United Kingdom apart from the Stationery Office; the New York Business is considerable among indigenous American publishers (see pp. 33 ff.). As a group the Oxford University Press publishes some 850 new titles each year under its own imprints, and also a further 600-700 books originally published by other University Presses and institutions. Apart from the Cambridge University Press, no other University Press in the western world even remotely approaches this volume of publication.
47. An even more impressive statistic, and one which most clearly points up the difference in kind between the operations of the O.U.P, and the commercial publishing houses, is the size of the list of books maintained in print by the Press. The current catalogue lists some 17,000 items. All of these are in stock, and the Press's warehouse at Neasden alone, we were informed, contains at any given time an average of 3 million volumes, and distributes some 17 million books annually. The financial implications for the Press as a commercial enterprise of the maintenance of this large stock are considerable, and they will be fully discussed in Chapter 4, where we examine the Press as a business concern. Here our purpose is rather to stress the magnitude of the enterprise into which the Press has developed, and this we can perhaps best express by pointing out that today the turnover of the Press as a group is well in excess of £10 million per annum.
48. Any appreciation of the position of the Press today has to take into account the fact that it is also much more than a large enterprise. It is a leader among United Kingdom publishers and an instrument of learning, education, and culture of national and international importance. We were told by the President of the Publishers' Association that the position of the Press was second to none in the United Kingdom publishing world, and its reputation very high; that the Press had been generous in sharing its knowledge and in contributing to the work of the Publishers' Association; and that any suggestion that Oxford should withdraw from general book publishing, or from publishing overseas, would be calamitous and contrary to the national interest. Other experienced publishers endorsed this view of the contribution made by the Press both to the Publishers' Association and to the book trade of the United Kingdom. Another point made by them was the Press's contribution to United Kingdom exports and also its special importance in the field of English language teaching overseas. In addition, much other general evidence was before us of the importance of O.U.P. in the worlds of learning and of education.
49. Particularly significant perhaps was the information supplied by the British Council. An exceptionally large proportion of the books in British Council libraries and exhibitions overseas, they said, was made up of O.U.P. books, and the O.U.P. was beyond question the most important and significant publisher in the many fields which interest the Council. Mentioning that O.U.P. officers had been particularly active in the Publishers' Association and in the Book Development Council, they stressed that this had been very helpful to the work of the British Council, as had also the fact that O.U.P. had many branches in developing countries. They considered that the O.U.P. has a key role to play in the developing countries, at least until the day comes when those countries are able themselves to provide a full range of academic publishing.
50. In theory the Press is a department like any other department of the University, and at every point its activities engage the interests and the reputation of the University. Accordingly, the very fact that the Press has grown to be so large an enterprise and of such importance in the outside world compels the University now to ask itself certain questions about the Press both as a business and as an organ of the University for the promotion of learning and education.
51. How efficient is the Press as a business? Is its return on capital employed reasonably comparable with that of other publishing businesses? Does it publish the right books, and in the right places? Is it desirable that it should be an international publishing house, with all the problems of policy and administration which this implies, or should it be restricted in its activities to this country, or even to Oxford? Should the Press continue as a general publisher, or should it restrict itself to the publication of learned works only? Should the Press continue to have as part of its organization a printing works and a paper mill? Should the steady tendency of the Press to expand continue, or should its growth stabilize, and if so, at what level? What, in short, should be the future shape of the Press?
52. These questions in turn raise problems concerning the proper relation between the Press and the University. There is no doubt that the University wholly owns the Press, and is wholly responsible for it. It is equally obvious that inasmuch as the products of the Press come into the hands of literally millions of people who may otherwise have little or no knowledge of or connection with Oxford, the international reputation of the University in practice resides to a very considerable degree in the hands of the officers of the Press. How much control can and should the University exert over the operations of the Press? There is a balance to be achieved between maintaining the authority of the University and preserving its vital interests on the one hand, and on the other, the granting of sufficient creative freedom to the publishing staff. Do the present arrangements provide the correct balance? If not, in what way should they be modified? What body or bodies within the University should be entrusted with the supervision of the Press, and how should they be constituted? And, finally, what contribution should the Press be expected to make to the activities of the University? This last question is frequently raised in the simplified form: should the Press make a regular contribution to the University's finances?
53. In the following chapters we attempt to answer these questions in what seems to us to be their proper context.
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