Phaidon Press
| Founded | 1923 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Bela Horovitz and Ludwig Goldscheider |
| Country of origin | Austria |
| Headquarters location | London and New York City |
| Distribution | Worldwide |
| Key people |
Keith Fox (CEO) Philip Ruppel (COO) Deborah Aaranson (VP, Publisher) Emilia Terragni (Editorial Director) Judith Regan (the head of the Regan Arts division) |
| Publication types | Books, Magazine |
| Official website | www |
Keith Fox (CEO)
Philip Ruppel (COO)
Deborah Aaranson (VP, Publisher)
Emilia Terragni (Editorial Director)
Phaidon is a global publisher of books on art, architecture, photography, design, performing arts, decorative arts, fashion, film, travel, and contemporary culture, as well as cookbooks and children’s books.
Phaidon was founded in Vienna in 1923 as a history and art-book publisher. The founders, Dr Bela Horovitz and Ludwig Goldscheider named the company Phaidon (German form of Phaedo) after Phaedo of Elis, a pupil of Socrates, to reflect their love of classical antiquity and culture. Their first titles were in fact not art books, but books on literature, philosophy and history. Phaidon's well-recognized large-format art books first emerged in 1937 with the issue of high quality plates on works by Vincent van Gogh, Sandro Botticelli, and the French Impressionists. They successfully achieved their goal of beautifully designed yet affordable books by pioneering the international co-edition and doing large print-runs. High quality design and good value – the main tenets on which the company was based – remain key values almost a century later.
To avoid the effects of the Nazi annexation of Austria, Horovitz and Goldsheider moved their company to England. Soon after, in 1950, Phaidon published what would become one of the most influential titles in the art world and the best selling art book of all times. “The Story of Art” has, since its publication in 1950, sold more than 7 million copies and been translated into more than 20 languages.
Following the sudden death of Horovitz in 1955, Phaidon was held at the helm by his son-in-law, Harvey Miller. A decade later in 1967, it was acquired by Encyclopædia Britannica. It changed ownership several times in the 1970s and 1980s and started to decline, until it was acquired by entrepreneur Richard Schlagman in 1990.
Schlagman's goal was to return Phaidon to its original values of affordable, high quality publications. His program, which included new books, new editions, and a larger business operation led to rapid growth and helped re-establish Phaidon as the premier publisher of the creative arts in content, design, and production.
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