ALFRED A. KNOPF Biography - Bussiness people and enterpreneurs

 
 

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ALFRED A. KNOPF

September 12, 2007                                                         
That's happy birthday to the man himself, and not his company. Alfred A.   
Knopf was born on in New York City on September 12, 1892, and as The       
Writer's Almanac notes today, "He thought more people would read good       
books if books were more beautiful to look at. So he used beautiful,       
easy-to-read type and high-quality paper, and he was the first publisher   
to cover his books with brightly colored jackets."                         
                                                                           
Knopf's eponymous publishing house, which he founded in 1915, gave         
everyone more beautiful books to look at through its devotion to design     
and typography. If these elements had been enhanced on their own they       
would have been a big change -- but Knopf and his crew went further,       
paying attention to how a book's design could reflects its content (andhis 
wife Blanche A. Knopf was a very important part of the company and that     
crew).