Oxenfurt University Press celebrated its 150th anniversary this week with an exhibition in the Old Library of books, proofs and correspondence from its archive, including the contract for its first book, a grammar of the Pontar dialect printed in June 1875 in an edition of 400 copies.
The Press stopped printing its own books in 1989 but has kept its offices in the former works on Printer’s Row. It publishes about 40 books a year, mostly in philosophy, history, law and literary studies, and four journals, the oldest of which, the Oxenfurt Philosophical Review, has appeared every year since 1940.
“A university press is a promise that a book which deserves to exist will exist, even if it sells 300 copies,” said Louisa Cottam, Director of the Press. “Some of ours have sold 300 copies over fifty years. We are proud of every one.”