Hill and Wang
Encyclopedia
Hill & Wang is an American book publishing company focused on American history, world history, and politics. It is a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux
.
Hill & Wang was founded as an independent publishing house in 1956 by Arthur Wang and Lawrence Hill, who were both working at A. A. Wyn
. They bought backlist books from Wyn and started Dramabooks, publishing plays in trade paperback, then a new format. The series included Jean Cocteau
, Arthur L. Kopit
and Lanford Wilson
. In 1959, Arthur Wang acquired Elie Wiesel
's Holocaust memoir, Night
, which had been turned down by several English-language publishers, publishing it in 1960. They continued to build the Hill & Wang list to include such authors as Roland Barthes
, Langston Hughes
, and American historians Stanley Kutler and William Cronon
.
In 1971, the two sold Hill & Wang to Farrar, Straus and Giroux
, and the imprint continues to be recognized for its high quality nonfiction. More recently, it has published authors such as Cass Sunstein
, Philip Gura, John Allen Paulos
, Melvyn Leffler, Thomas Bender, William Poundstone, Woody Holton
, and Eric Rauchway.
The imprint also launched a graphic line, "Novel Graphics," when it published a graphic adaptation of the 9/11 Commission Report
by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón
. It has since published several graphic biographies and works of graphic journalism, and a graphic adaptation of the United States Constitution
.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger W. Straus, Jr. and John C. Farrar. Known primarily as Farrar, Straus in its first decade of existence, the company was renamed several times, including Farrar, Straus and Young and Farrar, Straus and Cudahy...
.
Hill & Wang was founded as an independent publishing house in 1956 by Arthur Wang and Lawrence Hill, who were both working at A. A. Wyn
A. A. Wyn
Aaron A. Wyn , born Aaron Weinstein, was an American publisher. He edited pulp magazines for Harold Hersey's Magazine Publishers. When Hersey departed the company in the summer of 1929, Wyn, after a brief interlude from Harold S. Goldsmith, took charge of the company. Hersey's swastika logo was...
. They bought backlist books from Wyn and started Dramabooks, publishing plays in trade paperback, then a new format. The series included Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
, Arthur L. Kopit
Arthur L. Kopit
Arthur Lee Kopit is an American playwright. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and a three-time Tony Award nominee: Best Play, Indians, 1970; Best Play, Wings, 1979; and Best Book of a Musical, for Nine, 1982...
and Lanford Wilson
Lanford Wilson
Lanford Wilson was an American playwright who helped to advance the Off-Off-Broadway theater movement. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1980, was elected in 2001 to the Theater Hall of Fame, and in 2004 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters...
. In 1959, Arthur Wang acquired Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel
Sir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and...
's Holocaust memoir, Night
Night (book)
Night is a work by Elie Wiesel about his experience with his father, Shlomo, in the Nazi German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in 1944–1945, at the height of the Holocaust and toward the end of the Second World War...
, which had been turned down by several English-language publishers, publishing it in 1960. They continued to build the Hill & Wang list to include such authors as Roland Barthes
Roland Barthes
Roland Gérard Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. Barthes' ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, existentialism, social theory, Marxism, anthropology and...
, Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
, and American historians Stanley Kutler and William Cronon
William Cronon
William 'Bill' Cronon is the Frederick Jackson Turner and Vilas Research Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison...
.
In 1971, the two sold Hill & Wang to Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger W. Straus, Jr. and John C. Farrar. Known primarily as Farrar, Straus in its first decade of existence, the company was renamed several times, including Farrar, Straus and Young and Farrar, Straus and Cudahy...
, and the imprint continues to be recognized for its high quality nonfiction. More recently, it has published authors such as Cass Sunstein
Cass Sunstein
Cass R. Sunstein is an American legal scholar, particularly in the fields of constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and law and behavioral economics, who currently is the Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama administration...
, Philip Gura, John Allen Paulos
John Allen Paulos
John Allen Paulos is a professor of mathematics at Temple University in Philadelphia who has gained fame as a writer and speaker on mathematics and the importance of mathematical literacy...
, Melvyn Leffler, Thomas Bender, William Poundstone, Woody Holton
Woody Holton
Abner Linwood "Woody" Holton, III is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Richmond in Virginia and is a member of the Richmond Research Institute.-Life:He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and received his PhD from Duke University....
, and Eric Rauchway.
The imprint also launched a graphic line, "Novel Graphics," when it published a graphic adaptation of the 9/11 Commission Report
9/11 Commission Report
The 9/11 Commission Report, formally named Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, is the official report of the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks...
by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón
Ernie Colon
Ernie Colón is an American comics artist, born on July 13, 1931,Colón was born in Puerto Rico and began his professional career at Harvey Comics as a letterer. He later worked, uncredited, as an artist on titles including Monster in My Pocket, Richie Rich and Casper the Friendly Ghost...
. It has since published several graphic biographies and works of graphic journalism, and a graphic adaptation of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
.
Notable authors
- Elie WieselElie WieselSir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and...
, Night, Hill & Wang, 1960, 2006. - Woody HoltonWoody HoltonAbner Linwood "Woody" Holton, III is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Richmond in Virginia and is a member of the Richmond Research Institute.-Life:He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and received his PhD from Duke University....
, Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution (Hill Hill & Wang, 2007). Finalist for the National Book AwardNational Book AwardThe National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book... - William PfaffWilliam PfaffWilliam Pfaff is an American author, op-ed columnist for the International Herald Tribune and frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books. He was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and is of German, English, and Irish origin...
, "Barbarian Sentiments: How the American Century Ends" (Hill Hill & Wang, 1989). Finalist for the National Book AwardNational Book AwardThe National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book... - Philip Gura, American Transcendentalism (Hill Hill & Wang, 2007). Nominee for the National Book Critics Circle AwardNational Book Critics Circle AwardThe National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle to promote the finest books and reviews published in English....
- Roland BarthesRoland BarthesRoland Gérard Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. Barthes' ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, existentialism, social theory, Marxism, anthropology and...
, Numerous works in translation.