Manesse Verlag

Walther Meier founded the Manesse Verlag in Zürich in 1944. Two years earlier, he had discussed the idea of a "world literary library" for classical literature, with the printing house Conzett & Huber.{{cite book |date=2004 | title=Vom Glück des Lesens und Gelesenwerdens |language=de | location=Zürich |publisher=Manesse | page=S. 12 | isbn=3-7175-2052-0 }} The name of the publishing house was based on the Codex Manesse.{{cite book |date=2004 | title=Vom Glück des Lesens und Gelesenwerdens |language=de | location=Zürich |publisher=Manesse | page=S. 255 | isbn=3-7175-2052-0 }} The first two works published by Manesse Verlag in 1944 were "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville translated by Fritz Güttinger and "Goethe im Gespräch" (Goethe in Conversation) by Eduard Korrodi.{{cite book |date=2004 | title=Vom Glück des Lesens und Gelesenwerdens |language=de | location=Zürich |publisher=Manesse | page=S. 13 | isbn=3-7175-2052-0 }} In the mid 1950s, the 100th volume of the so-called Manesse Library of World Literacy was published, "Deutsche Lyrik des Mittelalters" (German Lyric of the Middle Ages) by Max Wehrli,{{cite book |date=2004 | title=Vom Glück des Lesens und Gelesenwerdens |language=de | location=Zürich |publisher=Manesse | page=S. 256 | isbn=3-7175-2052-0 }} and in 2004 came the 600th volume, Henry Fielding's "Tom Jones".{{cite web | url=http://www.boersenblatt.net/news | title=Erdogan will gar nicht nach Europa | author=Tobias Bohm | website=boersenblatt.net | language=de | access-date=28 October 2016}} After Walther Meier had handed over the management of the publishing house to Federico Hindermann in the early 1970s, Conzett & Huber completely separated from Manesse in 1983.{{cite book |date=2004 | title=Vom Glück des Lesens und Gelesenwerdens |language=de | location=Zürich |publisher=Manesse | page=S. 258 | isbn=3-7175-2052-0 }} The publisher became an independent company and was taken over by the Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt.

After the turn of the millennium, Horst Lauinger followed Anne Marie Wells as the publisher.{{cite book | title=Wechsel bei Manesse |language=de | location=6 October 2000 |publisher=Der Bund | page=S. 8 }} In September 2005, it was announced that the Random House publishing group wanted to take over the book publishers of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, including Manesse, DVA and the Kösel Verlag. The purchase price was, according to media reports, in the lower double-digit million range.{{cite web | title=Random House kauft Buchverlage der FAZ | author=Hans-Peter Siebenhaar | date=14 September 2005 | publisher=Handelsblatt Online | language=de }} From viewers, the purchase was labeled as a "late development of the newspaper industry".{{cite book | last=Güntner | first=Joachim |date=23 September 2005 | title=Wachstumszwänge einer Branche |language=de |publisher=Neue Zürcher Zeitung | page=S. 44 }} Publishers of competing companies warned against further concentration of the industry.{{cite book |date=15 September 2005 | title=Verleger warnen vor Konzentration |language=de |publisher=Die Welt | page=S.28 }} It was feared in particular that the diversity of the German book market would be jeopardized.{{cite book | last=Maier | first=Thomas |date=16 September 2005 | title=Verlagsfusionen gefährden Vielfalt |language=de |publisher=Nürnberger Nachrichten }} Random House publishing group took over all shares in the Manesse Verlag GmbH and was therefore the sole shareholder. Manesse is a programmatic and publicly independent publisher of the company today.{{cite web | url=https://www.randomhouse.de/Verlage.rhs | title=Unsere Verlage | publisher=Random House | language=de | access-date=28 October 2016}} The corresponding company was deleted from the commercial register.

File:Eine Frage der Schuld (Sofja Tolstaja, 2008).jpg

Manesse is a classic publishing house that mainly publishes new and first translations. In the publishing house, works by authors such as Jane Austen, Herman Bang, Tania Blixen, Elizabeth Gaskell, Eduard von Keyserling, Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Nizami Ganjavi, Italo Svevo, Dante Alighieri, and Jun'ichirō Tanizaki{{cite book |date=2004 | title=Vom Glück des Lesens und Gelesenwerdens |language=de | location=Zürich |publisher=Manesse | page=S. 263 | isbn=3-7175-2052-0 }} were published. In 1994 Manesse published "German Narrators of the 20th Century" by Marcel Reich-Ranicki.{{cite web | url=https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&cqlMode=true&query=idn%3D941332578 | title=Ergebnis der Suche nach: idn=941332578 | publisher=Deutsche Nationalbibliothek | language=de | access-date=28 October 2016}} The publisher achieved a great deal of recognition in 2001 with "Eine Bluttat, ein Betrug und ein Bund fürs Leben" (A Murder, a Mystery, and a Marriage) by Mark Twain. The narrative was published in a translation by Frank Heibert and an epilogue by Georg Klein published at the same time as the American original.{{cite book |date=2004 | title=Vom Glück des Lesens und Gelesenwerdens |language=de | location=Zürich |publisher=Manesse | page=S. 260 | isbn=3-7175-2052-0 }} Among the best known works of the publishing house are Sophia Tolstaya's "Eine Frage der Schuld" (A question of guilt) and "101 Nacht" (101 nights).{{cite web | url=http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/ein-leben-an-tolstojs-seite.700.de.html?dram:article_id=84188 | title=Ein Leben an Tolstojs Seite | author=Karla Hielscher | date=6 August 2009 | publisher=Deutschlandfunk | language=de | access-date=28 October 2016}}{{cite web | url=http://www.zeit.de/angebote/buchtipp/101nacht/index | title=101 Nacht | author=Claudia Ott | publisher=ZEIT ONLINE | language=de | access-date=28 October 2016}} All the volumes of the World Literary Library are thread-bound, bound in linen, and equipped with a reading tape.{{cite web | url=http://www.dw.com/de/comeback-von-leinen-und-leseb%C3%A4ndchen/a-17218045 | title=Comeback von Leinen und Lesebändchen | author=Jochen Kürten | date=22 November 2011 | publisher=Deutsche Welle | language=de | access-date=28 October 2016}} The name of the author and the titles of the book are usually in gold on the back of the book.{{cite web | url=https://www.randomhouse.de/Ein_Blick_hinter_die_Kulissen_der_Manesse_Bibliothek_der_Weltliteratur/aid23093.rhd?men=1834&aid=23093 | title=Ein Blick hinter die Kulissen der "Manesse Bibliothek der Weltliteratur" | publisher=Random House | language=de | access-date=28 October 2016}} Each volume contains an epilogue by a contemporary author, literary critic or literary scholar.{{cite web | url=https://www.randomhouse.de/Neuerscheinungen.rhd?men=1153&lbl=37000&nov=false&ppr=all&sort=2 | title=Neuerscheinungen | publisher=Random House | language=de | access-date=28 October 2016}}

• Manesse Almanach auf das 40. Verlagsjahr. Manesse, Zürich 1984, {{ISBN|3-7175-1680-9}}, [http://d-nb.info/840938241 DNB].
• Manesse Almanach auf das 50. Verlagsjahr. Manesse, Zürich 1994, {{ISBN|3-7175-1864-X}}, [http://d-nb.info/969719310 DNB].
• Vom Glück des Lesens und Gelesenwerdens. Manesse, Zürich 2004, {{ISBN|3-7175-2052-0}}, [http://d-nb.info/969719310 DNB].

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.manesse.ch/ Official website]

{{Bertelsmann}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Swiss companies established in 1944

Category:Book publishing companies of Switzerland

Category:Book publishing companies of Germany

Category:Mass media in Munich

Category:Random House

Category:Publishing companies established in 1944