Open Court Publishing Company

Open Court was founded in 1887 by Edward C. Hegeler of the Matthiessen-Hegeler Zinc Company, at one time the largest producer of zinc in the United States. Hegeler intended for the firm to serve the purpose of discussing religious and psychological problems on the principle that the scientific world-conception should be applied to religion.{{Cite CAB|wstitle=Hegeler, Edward C.}} Its first managing editor was Paul Carus, Hegeler's son-in-law through his marriage to engineer Mary Hegeler Carus.Fields 1992, pg. 138 For the first 80 years of its existence, the company had its offices in the Hegeler Carus Mansion.{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/power-house/Content?oid=905535 |work=Chicago Reader |author=Jeffrey Felshman |title=Power House |date=May 31, 2001}}

Open Court specializes in philosophy, science, and religion. It was one of the first academic presses in the country, as well as one of the first publishers of inexpensive editions of the classics. It also published the journals Open Court and The Monist— the latter is still being published. The Open Court Monthly Magazine's motto was "Devoted to the Science of Religion, the Religion of Science, and the Extension of the Religious Parliament Idea."The Open Court Magazine September, 1915 front cover motto. https://archive.org/stream/opencourt_sept1915caru/opencourt_sept1915caru_djvu.txt

The Open Court journal was founded in February 1887 as the official publication of the Free Religious Association.Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition, Volume 8: 1890–1892. Indiana University Press, 2009. pp. xxiii-xxxiv. {{ISBN|978-0253004215}} By the end of 1887, its editor Benjamin F. Underwood resigned and Paul Carus became editor. The Open Court Publishing Company published The Open Court journal until 1936.Mott, Frank Luther. (1938). A History of American Magazines, Volume 4. Harvard University Press. p. 302. {{ISBN|978-0196264318}} Carus edited the journal for 32 years, until his death.{{cite journal|author=Myers, Constance|year=1964|title=Paul Carus and The Open Court: The History of a Journal|journal=Midcontinent American Studies Journal|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/235882003.pdf|volume=5|issue=2|pages=57–68}}{{cite web |url=https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/ocj/ |url-access= |title=The Open Court |language=English |access-date=11 August 2024 }}

One of Open Court Publishing's best-selling series is its semi-annual Popular Culture & Philosophy series, under the editorship of George Reisch. Volumes on the philosophy underpinning such television shows as Star Trek, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer propelled the series into the limelight.

• Open Court Reading

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• Fields, Rick. How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America (1992) Shambhala Publications. {{ISBN|0-87773-631-6}}

• [https://cricketmedia.com/open-court-publishing/ Cricket Media's Open Court portal]
• [https://archives.lib.siu.edu/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=2365 Open Court Publishing Company Records, 1886-1953] at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Special Collections Research Center

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Category:Academic publishing companies

Category:Book publishing companies based in Illinois

Category:Companies based in Chicago

Category:Publishing companies established in 1887

Category:Publishing companies of the United States