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65-402: No Man Knows My History has never been out of print, and 60 years after its first publication, its publisher, Alfred A. Knopf , continues to sell about a thousand copies annually. For a revised edition released in 1971, Brodie added a supplement incorporating psychohistorical commentary. In 1995, Utah State University (USU) marked the 50th anniversary of the book's first publication by hosting

130-532: A symposium to re-examine the book, its author, and her methods, and in 1996 USU published the symposium papers as a book of essays. Fawn M. Brodie was born in 1915 into a respected, if impoverished, Latter-day Saint family. Brodie drifted away from religion during her graduate studies in literature at the University of Chicago . Having found temporary employment at the Harper Library , Brodie began researching

195-476: A "renegade Mormon, born into a Mormon family" was evidence the LDS Church was "an evil bird that fouls its own nest." In 1966, RLDS scholar and member Robert B. Flanders disapproved of the book's uncritical use of 19th-century anti-Mormon literature and criticized Brodie's "zeal to create the grand and ultimate expose of Mormonism." Nevertheless, Flanders also recognized Brodie's "painstaking" research and considered

260-557: A $ 3-million donation to the University of Virginia established the Richard Lyman Bushman Chair of Mormon Studies in his honor. Richard L. Bushman was born on June 20, 1931, in Salt Lake City , Utah . His father, Ted Bushman (1902–1980), was a fashion illustrator, advertiser, and department store executive, and his mother, Dorothy Bushman ( née Lyman; 1908–1995), was a secretary and homemaker. Bushman grew up as

325-662: A $ 5,000 advance from his father, Samuel Knopf. The first office was located in New York's Candler Building . The publishing house was officially incorporated in 1918, with Alfred Knopf as president, Blanche Knopf as vice president, and Samuel Knopf as treasurer. From the start, Knopf focused on European translations and high-brow works of literature. Among their initial publications were French author Émile Augier 's Four Plays , Russian writer Nikolai Gogol 's Taras Bulba , Polish novelist Stanisław Przybyszewski 's novel Homo Sapiens , and French writer Guy de Maupassant 's Yvette,

390-413: A Mormon, sought to challenge the popularity of No Man Knows My History by studying Smith's cultural context and sympathetically understanding him as an accomplished but contradictory person. In 2014, religious studies scholar Ann Taves , who is not Mormon, proposed a naturalistic model of Smith that nevertheless rejected the idea of fraudulence, instead interpreting Smith as a "skilled perceiver" who, with

455-414: A Novelette, and Ten Other Stories . During World War I these books were cheap to obtain and helped establish Knopf as an American firm publishing European works. Their first bestseller was a new edition of Green Mansions , a novel by W. H. Hudson which went through nine printings by 1919 and sold over 20,000 copies. Their first original American novel, The Three Black Pennys by Joseph Hergesheimer ,

520-540: A career that included working with John Updike and Anne Tyler . Pat Knopf left his parents' publishing company in 1959 to launch his own, Atheneum Publishers , with two other partners. The story made the front page of The New York Times . In a 1957 advertisement in The Atlantic Monthly , Alfred A. Knopf published the Borzoi Credo. The credo includes a list of what Knopf's beliefs for publishing including

585-542: A conjectured "unconscious but positive talent at hypnosis" neglected the broader religious context of nineteenth-century America, and that it fails to account for Mormons who converted or stayed committed in Smith's absence. Hill hypothesized that "general cynicism toward religion among many intellectuals" in the 1940s may have prompted Brodie's characterization of Smith. He also criticized Brodie's handling of primary sources, stating that she references Smith's official history as if it

650-419: A contender in the ring, whereas before she reigned unchallenged." However, historian Laurie Maffly-Kipp, who is not Mormon, believed the influence of No Man Knows My History was waning, as while it had been "the 'go to' book on Smith's life" for "most historians", Rough Stone Rolling displaced it as a "definitive account" of Smith. Upon its 1945 release, one of the book's earliest critics was Vardis Fisher ,

715-449: A deliberate impostor, who at some point, in nearly untraceable steps, became convinced that he was indeed a prophet—though without ever escaping "the memory of the conscious artifice" that created the Book of Mormon. Jan Shipps , a preeminent non-LDS scholar of Mormonism who rejects this theory, nevertheless called No Man Knows My History a "beautifully written biography   [...] the work of

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780-654: A doctoral fellowship at Brown University . In 1968, he won the Bancroft Prize for his published dissertation, From Puritan to Yankee: Character and the Social Order in Connecticut, 1690–1765 . Bushman was awarded a year-long fellowship in 1969 at Harvard's Charles Warren Center and then was recruited to teach by Boston University. In 1977, Bushman moved to the University of Delaware to work with material culture resources at

845-410: A lifelong friend, mentor, and sounding board. Brodie finally completed her biography of Smith in 1944, and Knopf published it in 1945, when Brodie was 30 years old. In No Man Knows My History , Brodie presented the young Smith as a good-natured, lazy, extroverted, and unsuccessful treasure seeker, who, in an attempt to improve his family's fortunes, first developed the notion of golden plates and then

910-495: A mature scholar [that] represented the first genuine effort to come to grips with the contradictory evidence about Smith's early life." Although Brodie's analysis of Smith has sometimes been termed psychobiography or psychohistory, she did not gain a reputation as a psychohistorian until later in life, and she denied the presence of psychohistory in No Man Knows My History "except by inadvertence." In 1971, Brodie added

975-592: A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). When he was a young child, Bushman's family moved to Portland , Oregon . After graduating from high school in 1949, Bushman matriculated at Harvard University. After taking time off from those studies to serve for two years as a Latter-day Saint missionary in the northeastern United States, he graduated in 1955 with an Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude in history. Bushman married fellow historian Claudia Lauper Bushman in August 1955, and

1040-407: A middle ground between hagiography and cynicism. Roger D. Launius considered the book a turning point from "old" to "new" Mormon history , shifting the field away from polemical supports for or attacks on faith and toward objectively understanding events in a search for truth. In 1971, Hill wrote: [ No Man Knows My History ] has had tremendous influence upon informed Mormon thinking, as shown by

1105-498: A practicing Latter-day Saint family. As a young adult, he entered undergraduate studies at Harvard and there found himself struggling to communicate his religious beliefs in an environment in which logical positivism was current. I. Bernard Cohen , a mentor to Bushman in Harvard's history and science concentration, told him that most people at Harvard "thought Mormonism is garbage". Unsure how to reply, Bushman began wondering if there

1170-501: A prolific novelist and former Latter-day Saint. In his review for the New York Times , Fisher approved of Brodie's "painstaking" work and praised her "excellent analysis of the early appeal of Mormonism," but he was unconvinced of Brodie's theory that Smith was a self-interested fraud and accused her of pursuing the idea overzealously, writing, "she has a thesis, and she rides it hard." Fisher also criticized Brodie's willingness to "give

1235-488: A supplement to the book that engaged more directly—though still somewhat sparingly—in psychoanalysis , revising her earlier portrayal of Smith from a deliberate charlatan to a conflicted person torn by unconscious internal dissonance in a "personality disorder" that nevertheless defied clinical models. Upon its publication, Dale Morgan called Brodie's first book the "finest job of scholarship yet done in Mormon history and perhaps

1300-510: Is a Russian wolfhound or Borzoi . Blanche Knopf suggested the Borzoi for the logo to imply motion and the logo was used on both the spine and the title page of their books. Richard Bushman Richard Lyman Bushman (born June 20, 1931) is an American historian and Gouverneur Morris Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University , having previously taught at Brigham Young University , Harvard University , Boston University , and

1365-515: Is a primary source written or dictated by him, but that most of Smith's official history was actually adapted from other sources, such as the diaries of George A. Smith and Willard Richards , and only rendered by scribes as if it were in Smith's first-person voice. Scholars also echoed Fisher's critique of No Man Knows My History 's reliance on unsourced and speculative depictions of historical figures' inner thoughts. Although Brodie's literary style invited readers to identify with people portrayed in

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1430-508: Is a sister imprint of Random House. In October 2012, Bertelsmann entered into talks with rival conglomerate Pearson plc , over the possibility of combining their respective publishing companies, Random House and Penguin Group . The merger was completed on 1 July 2013 and the new company is Penguin Random House . Bertelsmann owned 53% of the joint venture while Pearson owned 47%. At the time of

1495-776: The Bancroft Prize , an award given by the trustees of Columbia University for the year's best book on American history. Bushman has also received the Phi Alpha Theta prize, and Evans Biography Awards, administered by the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies at Utah State University . He published Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism , which was awarded best biography from the Mormon History Association in 1985. Bushman has held Guggenheim, Huntington, National Humanities Center , and National Endowment for

1560-535: The Good Neighbor policy , Blanche Knopf visited South America in 1942, so the firm could start producing texts from there. She was one of the first publishers to visit Europe after World War II. Her trips, and those of other editors, brought in new writers from Europe, South America, and Asia. Alfred traveled to Brazil in 1961, which spurred a corresponding interest on his part in South America. Penn Publishing Company

1625-540: The University of Delaware . Bushman is the author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling , a biography of Joseph Smith , progenitor of the Latter Day Saint movement . Bushman also was an editor for the Joseph Smith Papers Project and now serves on the national advisory board. Bushman has been called "one of the most important scholars of American religious history" of the late-20th century. In 2012,

1690-529: The Winterthur Museum . Bushman's "major work on refinement and gentility dated from those years, which included a year-long fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution." In 1989, Bushman was asked to teach American colonial history at Columbia University. In 1992, Bushman was named the first Gouverneur Morris Professor of History. During his time at Columbia, he completed year-long fellowships at

1755-680: The "crowning achievement of the new Mormon history ". Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling sold over 100,000 copies and gathered many awards including the Evans Biography Award and the Mormon History Association 's annual 2006 Best Book award. According to an article by the Los Angeles Times writer Larry Gordon, the initial response to the biography "garnered many positive reviews, although some critics said it uncomfortably straddled reverence and logic." Bushman grew up in

1820-541: The 2000s, the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation , using Y-DNA testing , excluded Smith as the father of Buell, Hancock, and Pratt. Frank Henry Hyde's recorded date of birth precludes Smith's paternity, and whether or not Smith fathered Orson Washington Hyde has neither been proved nor disproved. The significance and ground-breaking nature of Brodie's work is generally acknowledged within Mormon studies , and No Man Knows My History influenced

1885-624: The Davis Center at Princeton , the National Humanities Center , and the Huntington Library . At the latter, in 1997, Bushman began writing a biography of Joseph Smith , Rough Stone Rolling , and he retired from Columbia in 2001 in order to complete it. From 2008 to 2011, Bushman served as the first Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University and held a Huntington Library fellowship. In 2012,

1950-612: The Eighteenth Century: A Social and Cultural History . By 2020, Bushman had spent almost a decade intermittently writing a cultural history of the golden plates that Joseph Smith had described as the source of the Book of Mormon . Bushman's scholarship includes studies of early American social, cultural, and political history; American religious history, and early Latter-day Saint history . In 1968, Bushman's From Puritan to Yankee: Character and Social Order in Connecticut, 1690–1765 won

2015-667: The Humanities fellowships; and served as president of the Mormon History Association (1985–1986). Bushman was honored at the January 2011 annual meeting of the American Historical Association where a breakout session entitled "A Retrospective on the Scholarship of Richard Bushman" was heavily attended. Bushman's Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling , a biography of Latter Day Saint movement founder Joseph Smith, has been called

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2080-575: The Knopfs suggested publishing a collection of her short stories, Youth and the Bright Medusa , in 1920. Cather was pleased with the results and the advertisement of the book in The New Republic and would go on to publish sixteen books with Knopf, including their first Pulitzer Prize winner, One of Ours . Before they had married, Alfred had promised Blanche that they would be equal partners in

2145-611: The Type", which describes the history of the typeface used for the book. In addition, Knopf books date the year of the book's current printing on the title page. Knopf published textbooks until 1988, when Random House's schools and colleges division was sold to McGraw Hill . In 1991, Knopf revived the " Everyman's Library " series, originally published in England in the early 20th century. This series consists of classics of world literature in affordable hardcover editions. The series has grown over

2210-734: The University of Virginia established the Richard Lyman Bushman Chair of Mormon Studies in the Department of Religious Studies, the chair funded with a $ 3-million endowment by anonymous donors. Outside professoriate settings, in the twenty-first century Bushman also worked as an editor and later a national advisory board member for the Joseph Smith Papers, a project of the Church History Department . Bushman has continued writing both early American and Mormon history. In 2018, Yale University Press published his The American Farmer in

2275-2177: The acquisition the combined companies controlled 25% of the book business, with more than 10,000 employees and 250 independent publishing imprints and with about $ 3.9 billion in annual revenues. The move to consolidate was to provide leverage against Amazon.com and battle the shrinking state of bookstores . In 2015, Knopf celebrated its 100th anniversary by publishing a commemorative book, Alfred A. Knopf, 1915–2015: A Century of Publishing. While there have been many notable editors at Knopf there have only been four editors-in-chief: Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. , Robert Gottlieb , Sonny Mehta (who died in 2019) and Jordan Pavlin. Other influential editors at Knopf included Harold Strauss (Japanese literature), Herbert Weinstock (biography of musical composers), Judith Jones (translations, The Diary of Anne Frank, culinary texts), Peter Mendelsund (art director and book cover designer) as well as Bobbie Bristol, Angus Cameron , Ann Close, Charles Elliott, Gary Fisketjon , Lee Goerner, Ashbel Green , Carol Brown Janeway , Michael Magzis, Anne McCormick, Nancy Nicholas, Daniel Okrent , Regina Ryan, Sophie Wilkins, and Victoria Wilson . Knopf also employed literary scouts to good advantage. Alfred A. Knopf has published books by many notable authors, including John Banville , Carl Bernstein , Elizabeth Bowen , Frederick Buechner , Albert Camus , Robert Caro , Willa Cather , John Cheever , Julia Child , Bill Clinton , Michael Crichton , Miguel Covarrubias , Don DeLillo , Joan Didion , Bret Easton Ellis , James Ellroy , Martin Gardner , Kahlil Gibran , Lee H. Hamilton , Kazuo Ishiguro , John Keegan , Nella Larsen , John le Carré , Jack London , Gabriel García Márquez , Cormac McCarthy , Toni Morrison , Alice Munro , Haruki Murakami , Cynthia Ozick , Christopher Paolini , Edgar Allan Poe , Ezra Pound , Anne Rice , Dorothy Richardson , Stephen M. Silverman , Oswald Spengler , Susan Swan , Donna Tartt , Barbara W. Tuchman , Anne Tyler , John Updike , Andrew Vachss , James D. Watson , and Elinor Wylie . The logo for Knopf

2340-605: The assistance of other believers, manifested a new religious reality they mutually and sincerely believed in. In 2020, William L. Davis similarly posed a naturalistic model while still interpreting Smith as sincerely religious without deception. In 2019, an opinion essay published in Theological Librarianship assessed that "contemporary scholars have found multiple flaws in Brodie's methodology and conclusions, so her work has fallen out of fashion considerably, but its impact on

2405-674: The beliefs, doctrines, and teachings of the Church." Shortly after the release of No Man Knows My History , leaders of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS; now called Community of Christ ) warned Brodie they would sue her, though the Standard-Examiner describes these as having been "empty threats." Israel A. Smith , president of the RLDS Church at the time, claimed that Brodie's authorship of No Man Knows as

2470-911: The biography was "of no interest to Latter-day Saints who have correct knowledge of the history of Joseph Smith." The Church News section of the Deseret News provided a lengthy critique that acknowledged the biography's "fine literary style" but denounced it as "a composite of all anti-Mormon books that have gone before." BYU professor Hugh Nibley wrote a scathing 62-page pamphlet entitled No, Ma'am, That's Not History , asserting that Brodie had cited sources supportive only of her conclusions while conveniently ignoring others. Brodie considered Nibley's pamphlet to be "a well-written, clever piece of Mormon propaganda" but dismissed it as "a flippant and shallow piece." The church formally excommunicated Brodie in June 1946 for apostasy , citing her publication of views "contrary to

2535-566: The book "as the standard work on the life of Joseph Smith." By 1995, although four other book-length studies of Joseph Smith had been produced, none achieved as much prominence as No Man Knows My History . In 1995, Utah State University sponsored a symposium to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of No Man Knows My History during which scholars reflected on the book's contributions to Mormon studies. In his 2005 biography of Smith titled Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling , Richard Bushman noted that at that time Brodie's "biography

2600-527: The book "transitional" in the field shift from "old" to "new" Mormon history because it possessed elements of both. Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. ( / k n ɒ p f / ) is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in addition to leading American literary trends. It

2665-988: The book, critics said it relied on guesswork and sometimes outright invention of what someone may have been thinking or feeling. According to psychologist Charles Cohen, this approach "undercut the history." Cohen stated that Brodie's use of psychoanalysis in her 1971 supplement was incomplete and inconsistent with the lack of evidence supporting Smith having a tumultuous childhood. D. Michael Quinn assessed No Man Knows My History as "deeply flawed in its research, in its unrelenting distaste for Joseph Smith, and in its interpretative framework," but went on to write that Brodie "demonstrated [Smith's] complex personality, identified crucial issues, asked significant questions, gave previously unavailable information, and wrote with stellar prose." In No Man Knows My History , Brodie hypothesized that Smith had fathered five children through polygamous relationships : Oliver Buell, Orson Washington Hyde, Frank Henry Hyde, John Reed Hancock, and Moroni Pratt. In

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2730-491: The company in 1934, and worked with the firm for more than fifty years, rising to take the positions of president and chairman of the board. Blanche became president in 1957 when Alfred became chairman of the board, and worked steadily for the firm until her death in 1966. Alfred Knopf retired in 1972, becoming chairman emeritus of the firm until his death in 1984. Alfred Knopf also had a summer home in Purchase, New York . Following

2795-539: The concept of a religious novel, the Book of Mormon . This book, she asserts, was based in part on an earlier work, View of the Hebrews , by a contemporary clergyman , Ethan Smith (no relation). While previous "naturalistic approaches to Joseph's visions had explained them through psychological analysis", regarding Smith as honest but deluded, Brodie instead interpreted him as having been deliberately deceptive. In No Man Knows My History , Brodie depicts Smith as having been

2860-426: The content of a mind or to explain motives which at best can only be surmised," making No Man Knows My History "almost more a novel than a biography." Historian Marvin S Hill criticized the book on several fronts, including its portrayal of Smith as lacking religious motivations. Hill stated that Brodie's characterization of people's interest in and conversion to Mormonism as being the result of Smith's charisma and

2925-487: The couple reared six children. Bushman continued at Harvard, earning Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in the history of American civilization, studying with the early American historian Bernard Bailyn . Bushman received a Sheldon Fellowship to work on his dissertation in London . Bushman taught at Brigham Young University from 1960 to 1968, though two of those years he spent studying history and psychology on

2990-520: The fact that whole issues of B.Y.U. Studies and Dialogue have been devoted to considering questions on the life of the Mormon prophet raised by Brodie. There is evidence that her book has had strong negative impact on popular Mormon thought as well, since to this day in certain circles in Utah to acknowledge that one has "read Fawn Brodie" is to create doubts as to one's loyalty to the Church. Other scholars in

3055-572: The field by narrowing its focus to topics explored in the book. In 2005, Cohen echoed this concern. In the years since No Man Knows My History , various historians of Mormonism have posited a range of interpretations of Smith, generally affirming Smith's religiousness. In 1998, non-Mormon Dan Vogel agreed with Brodie that Smith deceived others but posited him as a "pious deceiver" who lied in order to impel people toward repentance and faith in God. In his 2005 book Rough Stone Rolling , historian Richard Bushman,

3120-498: The field cannot be overstated". Although No Man Knows My History questioned many common Mormon beliefs and portrayals of Joseph Smith, the work was not immediately condemned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), even as the book went into a second printing. In 1946, the Improvement Era , an official periodical of the church, claimed that many of the book's citations arose from doubtful sources and that

3185-573: The field in several lasting ways. The book "completely demolished", in the words of Jan Shipps, the hypothesis that the Book of Mormon was based on a novel manuscript written by Solomon Spaulding . Brodie also rejected earlier academic hypotheses that Smith was epileptic or paranoid and instead depicted Smith as rational and thoughtful. The interpretation of Smith as possessing all his faculties spread and persisted in scholarly studies of Mormonism. Also significantly, No Man Knows My History raised awareness of Smith's and Mormons' participation in politics and

3250-425: The history of Mormonism have expressed concern over Brodie's long-lasting influence as unhealthy for the field of Mormon studies. In 1995, Roger D. Launius wrote, "The degree to which Mormon historiography has been shaped by the long shadow of Fawn Brodie since 1945 is both disturbing and unnecessary," and he worried that scholars' preoccupation with either disproving or supporting No Man Knows My History "stunt[ed]"

3315-408: The mission field where I would be called on to testify of my beliefs virtually every day? ... I have come to believe that in actuality my problem was not faith but finding the words to express my faith." Bushman later held various religious callings within the LDS Church, including seminary teacher, bishop , stake president , and stake patriarch . On his decision to study the religion he

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3380-520: The next year and keep doubling becoming one of the firm's most successful books. In 1965 the book sold 240,000 copies. Approaching its 100 year anniversary in 2023, The Prophet has been translated into over 100 languages and has never gone out of print for Knopf. In the 1920s, Knopf sometimes withdrew or censored their books when threatened by John Sumner , such as Floyd Dell 's Janet March or George Egerton 's 1899 translation of Hunger . Samuel Knopf died in 1932. William A. Koshland joined

3445-594: The origins of Mormonism as a biographical study of Joseph Smith. The writing of the biography was slowed by the birth of her first child and by three rapid moves to follow her husband's career, but in 1943, Brodie entered a 300-page draft of her book in a contest for the Alfred A. Knopf literary fellowship; in May, the publisher judged her application to be the best of the 44 entries. Other scholars of Mormonism enlarged and critiqued Brodie's research, most notably Dale Morgan , who became

3510-438: The outstanding biography in several years—a book distinguished in the range and originality of its research, the informed and searching objectivity of its viewpoint, the richness and suppleness of its prose, and its narrative power." For decades afterward, No Man Knows My History enjoyed broad acceptance. In 1971, Latter-day Saint historian Marvin S. Hill observed that at the time, "most professional American historians" regarded

3575-416: The publishing company, but it was clear by the company's fifth anniversary that this was not to be the case. Knopf published a celebratory fifth-anniversary book in which Alfred was the focus of anecdotes by authors and Blanche's name was only mentioned once to note that "Mrs. Knopf" had found a manuscript. This despite ample evidence from authors and others that Blanche was in fact the soul of the company. This

3640-473: The resultant political dimension of both Mormon and anti-Mormon activities. In 2019, Theological Librarianship described the book's historiographical influence by stating that its "impact on the field cannot be overstated". No Man Knows My History also contributed to the development of a more open-minded approach to church history among Mormon scholars. Historian Marvin S. Hill urged future scholars to avoid extremes in studies of Joseph Smith and instead find

3705-763: The statement that he never published an unworthy book. Among a list of beliefs listed is the final one—"I believe that magazines, movies, television, and radio will never replace good books." In 1960, Random House acquired Alfred A. Knopf. It is believed that the decision to sell was prompted by Alfred A. Knopf Jr. , leaving Knopf to found his own book company, Atheneum Books , in 1959. Since its founding, Knopf has paid close attention to design and typography , employing notable designers and typographers including William Addison Dwiggins , Harry Ford, Steven Heller , Chip Kidd , Lorraine Louie , Peter Mendelsund , Bruce Rogers , Rudolf Ruzicka , and Beatrice Warde . Knopf books conclude with an unnumbered page titled "A Note on

3770-437: The streets of the financial and theatre districts dressed in artist costumes with sandwich boards . The placards had a copy of the book for browsing and directed interested buyers to local book shops. The unique look of their books along with their expertise in advertising their authors drew Willa Cather to leave her previous publisher Houghton Mifflin to join Alfred A. Knopf. As she was still under contract for her novels,

3835-656: The years to include lines of Children's Classics and Pocket Poets . Random House was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998. In late 2008 and early 2009, the Knopf Publishing Group merged with Doubleday to form the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Random House has been owned since its 2013 merger of Penguin Group by Penguin Random House , a joint venture between Bertelsmann (53%) and Pearson PLC (47%). Many of Knopf's hardcover books are published later as Vintage paperbacks . Vintage Books

3900-468: Was "enough evidence to believe in God", becoming "drawn toward agnosticism " as a result. Even so, Bushman interrupted his studies at Harvard to serve as a missionary for the church in New England and Atlantic Canada where he overcame doubts about the existence of God and became convinced that the Book of Mormon was right. Bushman has opined in retrospect, "If I was such a doubter, why did I go into

3965-513: Was acknowledged by non-Mormon scholars as the premier study of Joseph Smith," and he called Brodie "the most eminent of Joseph Smith's unbelieving biographers." In 2007, Bushman observed Knopf still sold about a thousand copies of No Man Knows My History annually and noted Brodie had "shaped the view of the Prophet for half a century. Nothing we have written has challenged her domination. I had hoped my book would displace hers, but at best it will only be

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4030-467: Was acquired by Random House in 1960, and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group division of Penguin Random House which is owned by the German conglomerate Bertelsmann . The Knopf publishing house is associated with the borzoi logo in its colophon , which was designed by co-founder Blanche Knopf in 1925. Knopf was founded in 1915 by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. along with Blanche Knopf , on

4095-474: Was acquired in 1943. The Knopfs' son, Alfred "Pat" Jr., was hired on as secretary and trade books manager after the war. In 1957, editor Judith Jones joined Knopf. Jones, who had discovered Anne Frank : Diary of a Young Girl while working at Doubleday, acquired Julia Child 's Mastering the Art of French Cooking for Knopf. Jones would remain with Knopf, retiring in 2011 as a senior editor and vice-president after

4160-525: Was covered extensively in The Lady with the Borzoi by Laura Claridge. In 1923, Knopf also started publishing periodicals, beginning with The American Mercury , founded by H. L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan , which it published through 1934. Also in 1923, Knopf published Kahlil Gibran 's The Prophet . Knopf had published Gibran's earlier works which had disappointing sales. In its first year, The Prophet only sold 1,159 copies. It would double sales

4225-466: Was published in 1917. With the start of the 1920s Knopf began using innovative advertising techniques to draw attention to their books and authors. Beginning in 1920, Knopf produced a chapbook for the purpose of promoting new books. The Borzoi was published periodically over the years, the first being a hardback called The Borzoi and sometimes quarterly as The Borzoi Quarterly . For Floyd Dell's coming-of-age novel, Moon-Calf , they paid men to walk

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