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ZIPIN /JUDA ICA FROM AMERICAN UNIVERSITY PRESSES
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— Wayne State University Press; 7. Yale Judaica Series. In addi
tion to the University Presses with series dedicated to Jewish
Studies, Faber singled out a number o f other University Presses
for their interest in Jewish Studies, including Columbia, Johns
Hopkins and New York University.
In 1975, Nathan Kaganoff8 published two bibliographies in
volume 33 o f the Annual. One was on American Jewish History,
in which 20.5% o f the titles were by University Presses, outdoing
the combined production o f the Jewish Publication Society, Ktav
and Jewish schools. In the bibliography o f American Jewish
Biography,7over 10% o f the total were by University Presses. In
the works listed in
Jewish Reference Sources
by Cutter and
Oppenheim,4University Presses account for only a modest share
o f reference materials. Even so, in certain categories like United
States, University Presses published 17.39% o f the titles, and in
History — 18.18% o f the total, which is much higher than their
current market share. The same pattern that was evident in the
earlier lists repeats itself.
The development and growth o f the University Presses in total
numbers and market share, and their leading role in such sub
jects as History, Philosophy and Religion, require some interpre
tation. When the Jewish Publication Society was organized it was
for the purpose “o f publishing and disseminating the best avail
able literature o f Jewish interest in English.” On the other hand,
University Presses have increasingly turned their attention to
Jewish Studies with no specific policy or philosophy in mind. For
the purposes o f this paper I sent a questionnaire to all University
Presses that had published Judaica titles in the last ten years. One
o f the sections o f the questionnaire requested each Press to de
scribe briefly its history and policy regarding publications in the
area o f Jewish Studies. The following are among the typical an
swers which were received: “We consider them (Jewish Studies
publications) along with other books and have made no special
effort to procure in this area” (University Press o f New England,
which includes Brandeis University, Brown University, and oth
ers). “We are most interested in publishing excellent scholarship
on theology and intellectual history, but do not confine ourselves
to those fields when considering manuscripts for the series” (Uni
versity o f Alabama Press). The Associated University Presses
replied in a similar manner: “The press welcomes the submission
o f manuscripts in all scholarly disciplines including Jewish Stud