Alfred A. Knopf Biography

Alfred A. Knopf

A premier book publisher who paid as much attention to the typestyle and materials of the books he published as to the quality of the literature they contained. After working through the ranks at Doubleday, he formed his eponymously titled firm in 1915, insisting that each book published should be quality literature and pleasing to the eye, both easy to read and aesthetically appealing. This attention to detail made him a leader among publishers, publishing authors such as H. L. Mencken, D. H. Lawrence, E. M. Forster , Clarence Day, Elizabeth Bowen, Albert Camus, Sigmund Freud, and Franz Kafka.