From: <[log in to unmask]> Date: Wed, 21 May 2014 08:18:59 +0000 PRESS RELEASE The University of Pennsylvania Press Selects De Gruyter as Its New Distribution Partner for Electronic Content Berlin/Philadelphia, 21 May 2014 – The University of Pennsylvania Press (Penn Press) has signed a contract granting De Gruyter global distribution rights to its electronic products. This transatlantic partnership will expand the international reach of Penn Press while also strengthening De Gruyter’s portfolio with a range of premier academic publications. “We found that De Gruyter’s digitization strategy, distribution team, and innovative business model made a compelling case,” says Eric Halpern, Director of Penn Press. Penn Press publishes in a focused editorial program across the humanities and social sciences, with especially strong lists in American and European history and literature, and in such multidisciplinary areas as human rights, urban studies, medieval studies, and religious studies, where it enjoys a preeminent standing. Its lists in ancient studies and early modern studies are growing, and it has developed a distinguished presence in the field of landscape architecture. Each year, Penn Press releases more than 100 new titles. These new releases will be offered at De Gruyter Online, along with a backlist of some 1,000 eBooks. “This partnership is a big win for De Gruyter,” says Dr. Sven Fund, Managing Director of De Gruyter. “Adding such a large number of eBooks to our portfolio will considerably augment the attractiveness of our catalog to libraries in international markets. We welcome Penn Press on board as our ninth Publisher Partner.” Contact Ulrike Lippe Public Relations Manager Tel. +49 (0)30-260 05 153 [log in to unmask] De Gruyter: The independent academic publisher De Gruyter can look back at an over 260 year history. The De Gruyter Group, which includes the publishing houses of De Gruyter Akademie Forschung, Birkhäuser, De Gruyter Mouton, De Gruyter Oldenbourg, De Gruyter Open, and De Gruyter Saur publishes over 1,300 new titles each year in the humanities, medicine, natural sciences, and law, more than 650 journals, and a variety of digital media. The company is headquartered in Berlin, Germany. http://www.degruyter.com/ The University of Pennsylvania Press was originally incorporated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 26 March 1890, and the imprint of the University of Pennsylvania Press first appeared on publications in the closing decade of the nineteenth century – among the earliest such imprints in America. One of the Press's first book publications, in 1899, was a landmark: The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study, by renowned black reformer, scholar, and social critic W.E.B. Du Bois, a book that remains on the Press's lists to this day. From the turn of the century to the late 1950s, the Press published books focused mainly on Pennsylvania and on American history and culture of the eighteenth century. In the mid-1960s the Press began to broaden the scope of its editorial interests to include European history and culture, the social sciences, and the professions. A member of the Association of American University Presses, Penn Press now publishes more than 100 new books and journal issues a year, with an active backlist of more than 1.000 titles. http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/