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Pantheon Books

  • Pantheon Books was a publishing house founded in 1942 by the German émigré Kurt Wolff (1887–1963) and aimed at the exiled European community in New York.
  • Pantheon Books
  • Publishing House

  • Pantheon Books was a publishing house founded in 1942 by the German émigré Kurt Wolff (1887–1963) and aimed at the exiled European community in New York.

    Word Count: 24

  • Kurt Wolff had already gained experience in the publishing industry in Germany with his own publishing house, Kurt Wolff Verlag, which he had run from 1913. Wolff was engaged in supporting modern and expressionist German and foreign literature, as well as Jewish writers and art. His interest in art led him to found in 1923 Pantheon Casa Editrice in Florence, Italy, together with his partner Giovanni Mardersteig, publishing high quality art books in cooperation with renowned scholars and enjoying international distribution. The financial crisis of 1929 and the political climate in Germany forced Kurt Wolff to close his publishing houses in 1930 and emigrate to Paris. During the 1930s he lived in Nice and Paris with his second wife, Helen Wolff (1906–1994). After a period of internment and with the help of Varian Fry of the European Rescue Committee, the couple were able to emigrate in 1941 to New York. Within a year they re-established themselves in the publishing business and, in 1942, with financial help from friends, set up Pantheon Books in their apartment at 41, Washington Square.

    The company focused on fine editions by German and French authors, either in the original or in English translation. One of Pantheon's first books was Meine Wanderungen, a book of poetry by Ivan Heilbut. For the French translations they relied on the German émigré Jaques Schiffrin, who translated books by Louis Aragon, André Gide and Joseph Kessel. As the emerging publishing market was hard to break into, Kurt Wolff searched for a publishing niche and German authors who had not been translated for the American market. The books he chose included the fairy tales of Gebrüder Grimm (illustrated by the German émigré artist Josef Scharl), as well as books by Jacob Burckhardt and Erich Kahler, among others. In 1942 the German émigré Ivan Heilbutt published Francisco and Elizabeth, illustrated by Raffael Busoni. It told the story of a friendship between a seven-year-old girl called Elizabeth and a small refugee boy, Francisco, who emigrate with the boy's mother to New York City to escape the Spanish Civil War (Philipps 2001, 100).

    Besides literature, Pantheon's list included books on art and photography, as well as on the humanities and psychology. In 1947, the German émigré photographer Fred Stein published his 5th Avenue photobook with Pantheon. His first photobook, it was received with high praise, as can be seen in the reviews, and enhanced his professional reputation. The photobook starts at the south end of 5th Avenue and, over the course of 100 images, follows it north, to end in Harlem. The images capture well the diversity and changing character of the street and the variety of cultures, ethnicities and social conditions of the inhabitants can be seen as a metaphor for the city. Fred Stein was a sensitive photographer, his approach always humanistic and touched with humour as he captured life on the streets. Employing unusual perspectives, angles and details of everyday scenes, the book is dedicated to the historic street and captures the essence of metropolitan life through a mix of street views, architectural shots and pictures of people. Although the narrative of the book is provided by the walk from the south to the north end of 5th Avenue, the careful selection and arrangement of the images add to its impact. Two images on a double-page spread enter into a dialogue with one another and provide interesting juxtapositions as well as commonalities, so that flicking through the pages allows the reader to share Stein's experience of walking down the street. The same year, 1947, a French edition of 5th Avenue was published with the help of the émigré publishing house Querido, co-founded by the German émigré publisher Fritz H. Landshoff (the great uncle of the émigré photographer Hermann Landshoff). Both founders, Kurt Wolff and Fritz H. Landshoff, were photographed by Fred Stein for his series on émigré authors and intellectuals in exile in New York.

    Other photobooks with the topic on New York published by émigré photographers include: Manhattan Magic by Mario Bucovich, Chinatown U.S.A. by Elizabeth Coleman, Times Square by Rolf Tietgens, New York by Andreas Feininger as well as a collection of essays and images by Ann Tizian Leitich in her book New York.
    The photobook had several functions for the émigré photographer. As a publishing medium it was independent of the art market and museums and favoured self-representation (Parr 2004, 9–11; Ziehe 2015, 9). It also allowed to secure the self-marketing, economic and financial conditions for emigrated photographers (Seeber 2015, 10–13), and offered the photographer an opportunity to build a professional reputation in exile. Furthermore, photographs taken before emigration could be brought before a wider public. (Grebe 2015, 171). Pantheon was not the only publishing house to support the creation of photobooks by émigré photographers. Among the others who did so were: J.J. Augustin (Horst P. Horst, George Hoyningen-Huene, André Kertész, Alexey Brodovitch); Oceana Publications (Marion Palfi) and Schocken Books (Roman Vishniac). Other émigré photographers who published their work in book form were Ylla, Lilo Hess as well as Henry Rox.

    Starting in 1956 the émigré photographer Tim Gidal published together with his wife, Sonia Gidal, a youth literature series My village in … , with Pantheon. The two firsts books were My village in Austria (Pantheon Books, 1956) and My village in India (Pantheon Books,1956). Between 1956 and 1970 25 volumes were published covering villages around the world. All books had the same structure. On the front endpapers was drawn a detailed plan of the village where the "hero" of the story lives. Then it followed an instructive account of life in that village. The text was written by Sonia Gidal, while Tim Gidal was responsible for the photographs. After living in several countries in exile, the series can be seen as the photographic output and human living experience of the nomadic life of Tim and Sonia Gidal. Parallel to Pantheon, the publishing house Orell Füssli in Zurich started in 1961 with the German edition of the youth series Mein Dorf in …  and until 1968 a total of 10 volumes were published.

    In 1946/47 Pantheon Books moved to bigger premises at 333 6th Avenue, at the very centre of the press and publishing district. In 1960 Helen and Kurt Wolff parted company with Pantheon Books, which became part of Random House, and returned to Europe. During a visit to Germany in 1963, on his way to the German Literature Archive in Marbach, Wolff was hit by a truck and succumbed to his injuries shortly afterwards. He was buried in Marbach. Today, Pantheon is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

    Word Count: 1073

  • 41 Washington Square, Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City (1942–1946/47); 333 6th Avenue, Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City (1946/47).

  • Pantheon Books sign (© Fred Stein Archive).
  • Cover of 5th Avenue photobook (Pantheon Books, 1947) by Fred Stein (© Fred Stein Archive).
    First page of 5th Avenue (Pantheon Books, 1947) by Fred Stein (© Fred Stein Archive).
    Page of 5th Avenue (Pantheon, 1947) by Fred Stein.
    Last page of 5th Avenue (Pantheon Books, 1947) by Fred Stein (© Fred Stein Archive).
    Page from Fred Stein’s scrapbook showing Pantheon Books Catalogue (Fall 1946, Spring 1947), which includes 5th Avenue (© Fred Stein Archive).
    Announcement by Pantheon Books from Fred Stein’s scrapbook (© Fred Stein Archive).
    Mixed articles and reviews on 5th Avenue photobook form Fred Stein's scrapbook (© Fred Stein Archive).
    Portrait of Kurt Wolff (of publishing house Pantheon Books) by Fred Stein, 1959 (© Fred Stein Archive).
    Cover of the French edition 5th Avenue (Querido, 1947) by Fred Stein (© Fred Stein Archive).

  • Abel, Richard, and Gordon Graham, editors. Immigrant Publishers. The Impact of Expatriate Publishers in Britain and American in the 20th Century. Transaction Publishers, 2009.

    Fischer, Ernst. Verleger, Buchhändler und Antiquare aus Deutschland und Österreich in der Emigration nach 1933. De Gruyter, 2020.

    Grebe, Stefanie. “Vom Buch an die Wand – Ein Fotobuch als Ausgangsmaterial für eine Fotografieausstellung.” Gedruckte Fotografie. Abbildung, Objekt und mediales Format (Visuelle Kultur. Studien und Materialien, vol. 10), edited by Irene Ziehe and Ulrich Hägele, Waxmann, 2015, pp. 171–183.

    Neteler, Theo. “Kurt Wolff verlässt Leipzig. Nicht Darmstadt, sondern München wird neuer Verlagssitz.” Aus dem Antiquariat. Zeitschrift für Antiquare und Büchersammler, vol. 7, 2009, pp. 3–11.

    Parr, Martin, and Gerry Badger. The Photobook: A History. Vol. 1. Phaidon, 2004.

    Phillips, Zlata Fuss, editor. German Children’s and Youth Literature in Exile 1933–1950. K.G. Saur, 2001.

    Report from Exile. Fotografien von Fred Stein, edited by Raphael Gross and Ulrike Kuschel, exh. cat. Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, 2020.

    Röder, Werner, et al., editors. Biographisches Handbuch der deutschsprachigen Emigration nach 1933–1945 (1999). Walter de Gruyter, 2016.

    Seeber, Ursula, et. al., editors. Exilforschung. Ein internationales Jahrbuch, vol. 22: “Kometen des Geldes” Ökonomie und Exil. edition text + kritik, 2015.

    Weidle, Barbara, editor. Kurt Wolff. Ein Literat und Gentleman. Weidle, 2007.

    Wolff, Kurt. Autoren, Bücher, Abenteuer. Betrachtungen und Erinnerungen eines Verlegers. Wagenbach, 1965.

    Ziehe, Irene, and Ulrich Hägele, editors. Gedruckte Fotografie. Abbildung, Objekt und mediales Format (Visuelle Kultur. Studien und Materialien, vol. 10). Waxmann, 2015.

    Word Count: 228

  • My deepest thanks go to Peter Stein for providing me with photographs and archival material of the Fred Stein Estate.

    Word Count: 20

  • Helene Roth
  • 1942
  • 1960

  • Fred Stein, Tim Gidal

  • New York
  • No
  • Helene Roth. "Pantheon Books." METROMOD Archive, 2021, https://archive.metromod.net/viewer.p/69/2948/object/5145-9978773, last modified: 09-06-2021.
  • Fred Stein
    PhotographerLawyer
    New York

    Always accompanied by his camera, the German émigré photographer Fred Stein discovered New York City during the 1940s and 1950s. His pictures provide an human and multifaceted view of the metropolis.

    Word Count: 31

    Tim Gidal
    PhotographerPublisherArt Historian
    New York

    Tim Gidal was a German-Jewish photographer, publisher and art historian emigrating in 1948 emigrated to New York. Besides his teaching career, he worked as a photojournalist and, along with his wife Sonia Gidal, published youth books.

    Word Count: 35

    Chinatown U.S.A.
    Photobook
    New York

    Chinatown U.S.A. is a photobook published by the German émigré photographer Elizabeth Coleman in 1946 focusing on American-Chinese communities in New York and San Francisco.

    Word Count: 26

    5th Avenue
    Photobook
    New York

    5th Avenue was the first photobook by Fred Stein and was created in 1947 with the publishing house Pantheon Books.

    Word Count: 19

    J.J. Augustin Incorporated Publisher
    Publishing House
    New York

    J.J. Augustin was a German publishing house in Glückstadt with a long history, going back to 1632. In 1936 the American branch opened in New York with a large artistic and cultural focus.

    Word Count: 33

    Schocken Books
    Publishing House
    New York

    Schocken Books was a publishing house established in 1945 in New York by the Russian émigré Salman Schocken (1898–1959). It specialised in books on Judaica and Hebrew topics.

    Word Count: 26

    Querido Inc.
    Publishing House
    New York

    Fritz H. Landshoff’s Querido publishing house was originally an offshoot of Emanuel Querido's Querido Uitgeverij Dutch publishing house in Amsterdam. Querido Verlag was created in 1933 to publish work by German political exiles.

    Word Count: 33

    Beggar Bar
    Bar
    New York

    Beggar Bar was an artists bar and cabaret which was founded in 1941 by the German actress and dancer Valeska Gert (1892–1978).

    Word Count: 20

    Hermann Landshoff
    Photographer
    New York

    Besides outdoor fashion shots, Hermann Landshoff was a portrait and street photographer. During his time in New York, he captured the cultural, artistic and intellectual émigré scene as well as his photographer colleagues.

    Word Count: 33

    Andreas Feininger
    PhotographerWriterEditor
    New York

    Andreas Feininger, was a German émigré photographer who arrived in New York with his wife Wysse Feininger in 1939. He started a lifelong career exploring the city's streets, working as a photojournalist and writing a large number of photography manuals.

    Word Count: 39

    Alexey Brodovitch
    PhotographerArt DirectorGraphic Designer
    New York

    Alexey Brodovitch was a Belarus-born émigré graphic artist, art director and photographer who, from 1933, worked in New York for Harper’s Bazaar magazine and at the New School for Social Research.

    Word Count: 31

    Rolf Tietgens
    PhotographerEditorWriter
    New York

    Rolf Tietgens was a German émigré photographer who arrived in New York in 1938. Although, in the course of his photographic career, his artistic and surrealist images were published and shown at exhibitions, his work, today, is very little known.

    Word Count: 39

    Marion Palfi
    Photographer
    New York

    Marion Palfi was a German émigré photographer who lived in New York from the 1940s to the 1960s. Her photographic engagement in social and political topics made her name for her use of the camera to draw attention to social injustices.

    Word Count: 41

    Mario Bucovich
    PhotographerEditor
    New York

    Only a few details are known of the life and career of émigré photographer and publisher Mario Bucovich, who, after emigrating to New York, published the photobooks Washington D.C. and Magic Manhattan.

    Word Count: 33

    Lilo Hess
    Photographer
    New York

    The German émigré Lilo Hess was an animal photographer working for the Museum for Natural History and the Bronx Zoo, as well being a freelance photographer and publisher of children's books.

    Word Count: 31

    Ylla
    Photographer
    New York

    Ylla was an Austrian-born photographer who emigrated to New York in 1941. Specialising in animal photography, she produced not only studio photographs, but also shot outside on urban locations in the metropolis.

    Word Count: 31

    Ann Tizia Leitich
    JournalistAuthorArt Critic
    New York

    Ann Tizia Leitich was an émigré Austrian author, journalist and art critic, who wrote essays, feuilletons and reviews on the American society and women for German and Austrian newspapers.

    Word Count: 29

    Henry Rox
    PhotographerSculptor
    New York

    Henry Rox was a German émigré sculptor and photographer who, in 1938, arrived in New York with his wife, the journalist and art historian Lotte Rox (née Charlotte Fleck), after an initial exile in London. Besides his work as a sculptor, he began creating humorous anthropomorphised fruit and vegetable photographs.

    Word Count: 50

    Manhattan Magic. A collection of eighty-five photographs
    Photobook
    New York

    Manhattan Magic is a photobook which was published in 1937 by the German émigré photographer Mario Bucovich in New York City.

    Word Count: 20

    New York
    BookPhotobook
    New York

    In 1932, after her remigration to Vienna, the Austrian journalist Ann Tizia Leitich published New York, an account of her life and writing experiences started as an emigrant in New York in the 1920s.

    Word Count: 33

    Oceana Publications
    Publishing House
    New York

    Oceana Publications Inc was a publishing house specialising in law and civil rights founded by the British émigré Philip F. Cohen (1911–1998) in 1945.

    Word Count: 22