Keter Publishing House

Keter Publishing House (Hebrew: כתר ספרים‎ Keter Sfarim, "Keter Books") is one of the largest publishers in Israel. It was formed in 2005 through a merger of Keter Publishing (Hebrew: כתר הוצאה לאור‎ Keter Hotsa'a La'or) and Steimatzky. Keter has a large book marketing and distribution network, as well print services and book production for the Israeli domestic and export market.[1] Keter is the most prominent publisher of contemporary Hebrew literature in Israel.[1] Keter also published the first edition of the Encyclopedia Judaica and is a co-publisher of the Junior Britannica.

History

Founded in Jerusalem, the company started in 1959 as a government owned company. Originally named the The Israel Program for Scientific Translations (IPST), it was created at the initiative of longtime Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek.[1] The company initially focused on the translation and publishing of scientific and technical manuscripts from Russian into English, mostly for the National Science Foundation of the United States.[1]

During the 1960s the company expanded its publishing activities into English under the names "Israel Universities Press" (IUP) and "Keter Books".[1] The government sold the company to Meniv Israel Investment Company in 1966 and in 1969 was sold again to Clal Israel, which renamed the company to Keter Publishing House.[1] The company then focused on expanding publishing Judaica and Israel titles for exporting, publishing the acquired Encyclopedia Judaica, and created a printing and bindery division called Keterpress Enterprises.[1]

In 1987 Keter went public. For a time controlling interest was held by Robert Maxwell though Macmillan,[2] and then by Arledan, a Jerusalem based investment company.[3] In 2005 Keter and the Steimatzky merged to form "Keter Books."[4]

Authors

Keter has published the works of many well known contemporary Israeli authors:

Keter has published many translated works including those of:

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Keter Publishing House, Jewish Virtual Library
  2. ↑ Keter sold to MacMillan. (Keter Publishing House Jerusalem Ltd., MacMillan Inc.), ICEN, Israel Business Today, June 13, 1990
  3. ↑ Profit for Keter Press., Israel Business Today, June 12, 1992
  4. ↑ Keter, Steimatzky chains merging publishing business, Asia Africa Intelligence Wire - February 27, 2005

External links