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Godine

Godine is an independent press for independently-minded readers. At Godine, quality has remained foremost. Many hardcovers are still bound in full cloth. David R.

Godine is a small publishing house located in Boston, Massachusetts, producing between twenty and thirty titles per year and maintaining an active reprint program. The company is independent (a rarity these days) and its list tends to reflect the individual tastes and interests of its president and founder, David Godine. Our aim is to identify the best work and to produce it in the best way possib

le. All of our hardcover and softcover books are printed on acid-free paper. The list is deliberately eclectic and features works that many other publishers can't or won't support, books that won't necessarily become bestsellers but that still deserve publication. In a world of spin-offs and commercial "product," Godine's list stands apart by offering original fiction and non-fiction of the highest rank, rediscovered masterworks, translations of outstanding world literature, poetry, art, photography, and beautifully designed books for children. The company was founded in 1970. After receiving degrees at Dartmouth College and Harvard University, David Godine worked for Leonard Baskin, the renowned typographer and printmaker, and Harold McGrath, his master printer. David Godine opened a printing shop the following year in a deserted barn in Brookline, Massachusetts. His first books, printed on his own presses, were nearly all letterpress, limited editions printed on high-quality rag or handmade paper. Many of these early volumes are now collector's items. In 1980, the company initiated its children's program, publishing a number of books that have become classics: Mary Azarian's A Farmer's Alphabet; Dylan Thomas's holiday classic A Child's Christmas in Wales, illustrated by Edward Ardizzone; the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome; and of course, the Godine editions of Frances Hodgson Burnett's timeless works, The Secret Garden and A Little Princess, which together have sold close to half a million hardcover copies. More recently, Godine has launched two new series: Imago Mundi, a line of original books devoted to photography and the graphic arts; and Verba Mundi, featuring the most notable contemporary world literature in translation. Volumes in the Imago Mundi series, which has received praise from reviewers and booksellers alike, include Jean Cocteau: The Mirror and the Mask by Julie Saul and Small Rooms & Hidden Places by Ronald W. Wohlauer. Verba Mundi has so far published works by world- renowned authors Georges Perec, Jose Donoso, Isaac Babel, and Anna Seghers, and has introduced new voices such as Sylvie Germain (whose Book of Nights was named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times) and the acclaimed Swedish novelist Göran Tunström, author of The Christmas Oratorio. Godine, Inc., has received numerous awards, including the Carey-Thomas award for Excellence in Publishing (1976), the Boston Globe Literary Press Award (1987), the first New England Booksellers Annual Award (1989), and the Leipzig Internationalen Buchkunst-Austellung (1989). In 1984, Bookbuilders of Boston awarded Godine the W. A. Dwiggins Award for maintaining standards of excellence in book production. Additionally, on July 1, 2002, John Martin, the founder and for thirty-six years the publisher of Black Sparrow Press, closed down his shop in Santa Rosa, California. After finding new homes for four of his authors—Charles Bukowski, Paul Bowles, John Fante, and Wyndham Lewis—he entrusted the rest of his backlist to a fellow publisher, David R. Godine. The agreement was simple: Godine would keep Black Sparrow's offerings available to the trade, keep the best-selling titles in print, and keep the house's spirit alive through judicious acquisitions. In short, Black Sparrow Press would be reborn—as Black Sparrow Books at David R. Godine, Publisher. "David Godine is a remarkable publisher.... He is determined to prove that the day of elegant books has not vanished. And he does prove it. Elegantly."
— The New York Times

"Godine books are not 'beautiful' in the glossy fashion of the coffee-table books that flood the market at Christmastime. They are instead flawlessly produced examples of the arts of printing and bookbinding, exquisitely understated."
— Newsweek

"Thank God some publishers, such as David R. Godine, march to a different drummer. So long as publishers copy one another . . . the trend of the moment dominates. Initiative and courage are necessary to battle mass thinking, and Godine, a small Boston publisher, has them."
— Cincinnati Enquirer

*We reserve the right to remove any posts with profanity.

09/10/2024

A huge congratulations to John Yau, whose been selected as a winner of the 2024 American Book Awards! These awards are presented by the Before Columbus Foundation and recognize works of literary excellence from the entire spectrum of America's diverse literary community. We are delighted to share this news!

09/04/2024

We are delighted to announce that WINTER SOLSTICE has been chosen as the 2024 Massachusetts Books Award Winner in nonfiction!! Congratulations Nina Maclaughlin and thanks to everyone at the Massachusetts Center for the Book!

06/24/2024

The exhibition must be seen to be believed! Shameless plugging, the same is true of the book from Godine!

Praise for Hardly Harmless Drudgery, on view through July 26 at The Grolier Club.

06/22/2024

So proud to be Ward Farnsworth’s publisher! He is a flame keeper for classical wisdom that we ignore at our peril!

"In this book, he arranges more than 800 passages in 32 short chapters to illustrate the principal means by which rhetoricians have tried to score points." Bryan Garner reviews Ward Farnsworth's "Farnsworth’s Classical English Argument." https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/eloquent-contentiousness-on-farnsworths-classical-english-argument/

06/22/2024

Proud to be the publisher of Bryan A. Garner’s and Jack Lynch’s HARDLY HARMLESS DRUDGERY and to help support the Grolier Club’s exhibition! Come see for yourself!

Noah Webster’s dominion over American dictionaries did not come without its detractors and dilettantes. As Curators Bryan A. Garner and Jack Lynch write, "Once Americans thought the name Webster to be synonymous with ‘the dictionary,’ other dictionaries began to appear as ‘Webster’s.’ The name began losing the distinctiveness that might have allowed it to serve as a trademark.”

Throughout the mid-20th century, Merriam’s public-relations campaign urged people to think of Merriam’s dictionaries as the only ones legitimately called Webster, as seen here in a 1930s advertisement. Their efforts were largely successful among the intelligentsia, but the road to reclamation was neither clear nor smooth. Today, “Webster’s” is now available to anyone who might create or publish a dictionary of any kind or quality.

Visit “Hardly Harmless Drudgery” to learn more about the trademark troubles of the Webster’s name. Open to the public free of charge, Monday-Saturday, 10am-5pm, or visit the online exhibition: https://grolierclub.omeka.net/exhibits/show/lexicography

Credit
“Warning! When you say ‘Webster’s Dictionary’ you mean MERRIAM-Webster.” 1930s. Advertisement. Ex coll. Karolyne & Bryan A. Garner. Image courtesy of Bryan A. Garner

06/22/2024

So grateful to be an independent New England publisher surrounded by such outstanding New England bookstores! Visit one of your choice today!

Summer in Vermont 🌸

📸

06/22/2024

Any interested applicants? Besides everyone at Godine?

Empty chair looking for sitter.

Ideal candidate:
🪑Enjoys a good book as much as they enjoy a good rest
🪑Appreciates comfort and sunlight
🪑Has a love for impartial furniture that won't judge how long your TBR is

Interested parties please visit the Corner Stone Bookshop.

05/17/2024

So happy to say that Simon Van Booy's SIPSWORTH is now on the ABA (aka, Independent Bookstore) national bestseller list!

05/09/2024

Just down the road from Godine's warehouse is the wonderful Gay-Kimball Library in Troy, New Hampshire. Our friends received signed copies of SIPSWORTH, courtesy of author, Simon Van Booy. This is why we work: the joy of putting books in the hands of readers.

05/08/2024

Save at least 20% on every title—this Spring only at... Godine.com
-Discover a new & improved website and shopping cart
-Find great new books by Ward Farnsworth, Joan Baez, and many more
-Enter coupon code GODINE24 at checkout and save 20% off every regularly priced title! You'll also find a selection of titles with savings of up to 80%!
-Explore our digital catalog, filled with new and recent titles for your browsing pleasure. We won't be mailing a Spring catalog, so this is your chance to save.

Offer ends June 30th. Hope to see you online soon!
Questions? Phone orders? Please call us at 800-344-4771

04/05/2024

Food is fraught. Even people who agree on many other things argue about what diet is the best, healthiest, most ethical. At the end of March, Margot Anne Kelley gave a talk at The Museum of the White Mountains. She spoke about how food and freedom have been connected, and about how that can matter as we continue to think about sustainability today. This talk was recorded and is now available for viewing on YouTube. Check it out at the link below.

Food is fraught. Even people who agree on many other things argue about what diet is the best, healthiest, most ethical. When speaking with elders, it is oft...

04/03/2024

Interested in hearing more about Margot Anne Kelley's newest book, A GARDENER AT THE END OF THE WORLD? You can now listen to her interview with Down the Garden Path Podcast!! 🌱🌞

https://bit.ly/3J4OW0z

In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes author Margot Anne Kelley to discuss her new book, . A gardener’s pandemic journal that combines memoir with an exploration of the natural world both inside and outside the garden, it explores questions of what we can preserve - of...

02/13/2024

The Academy of American Poets is featuring Anthony Walton’s “Alzheimer’s,” a moving piece about his father, in their Poem-a-Day series. Walton’s essay collection “THE END OF RESPECTABILITY: Notes of a Black American Reckoning with His Life and His Nation” is coming this fall from Godine.

He sits, silent, / no longer mistaking the cable

01/15/2024

"It would no doubt be futile to attempt to single out a magnum opus from [Guy Davenport's] impressive oeuvre, but a good case could be made for 'The Geography of the Imagination.' A collection of 40 essays now reissued by Godine, it was a National Book Award finalist in 1982. Little wonder: 'Geography' is an embarrassment of lyrical, intellectual, and literary riches." -- Vincent Czyz, The Arts Fuse

Touted as “perhaps the last great American polymath,” Guy Davenport had a singular mind; never was an artist more deserving of the MacArthur Foundation’s “genius grant.”

12/15/2023

hosts Nina MacLaughlin for a timely virtual discussion of her WINTER SOLSTICE(Godine) w/ Jacob Fricke of Hello Hello Books. "An astonishing gift" that "offers us a candle at night." Info: https://ow.ly/mj0P50QjinM Boston.com The Boston Globe Boston Globe Events Massachusetts Library Association MBLC New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA)

Address

Boston, MA
02108

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+1 800-344-4771

Website

http://www.godine.com/

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Videos

Remainders of the Day flying off the shelves!

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY to Shaun Bythell, author of REMAINDERS OF THE DAY, which is literally flying off the shelves. Get yourself or a loved one a copy for some holiday cheer here: https://godine.com/book/remainders-of-the-day/ Video courtesy of author Shaun Bythell The Bookshop

Remainders of the Day coming out December 6!

AVAILABLE TOMORROW! REMAINDERS OF THE DAY, the latest from Shaun Bythell, the author of Confessions of a Bookseller and Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops. Another hilariously grumpy year behind the counter at The Bookshop! Available here: https://godine.com/book/remainders-of-the-day/

Simon Van Booy & Billy O'Callaghan

Simon Van Booy was joined by Billy O'Callaghan recently, (event and video courtesy of Carmichael's Bookstore), to discuss Simon's latest novel, NIGHT CAME WITH MANY STARS, now available at Carmichael's Bookstore or at https://www.godine.com/book/night-came-with-many-stars/ Enjoy!

Chaney Kwak Ports of Call

ALL ABOARD! Catch 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 author Chaney Kwak live at one of these virtual Ports of Call. Event details: https://bit.ly/3uer41r Turn sound on! 📢 JUNE 8 San Francisco: Green Apple Books with Daniel Handler JUNE 10 Minneapolis: Magers & Quinn Booksellers with Lori Ostlund JUNE 18 Denver: Tattered Cover Book Store with Nathan Hake JUNE 30 Brooklyn: Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn with Paul Lisicky Animator: Lisa Marie Grillos

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Our Story

David R. Godine, Publisher is a small publishing house located in Boston, Massachusetts, producing between twenty and thirty titles per year.

The company was founded in 1970. After receiving degrees at Dartmouth College and Harvard University, David Godine worked for Leonard Baskin, the renowned typographer and printmaker, and Harold McGrath, his master printer. In collaboration with Lance Hidy and Martha Rockwell, Godine opened a printing shop the following year in a deserted barn in Brookline, Massachusetts. The press’s first books, printed on their own presses, were nearly all letterpress, limited editions printed on high-quality rag or handmade paper. Many of these early volumes included original wood-engraving by Hidy and are now collector's items. David R. Godine, Publisher has received numerous awards, including the Carey-Thomas award for Excellence in Publishing (1976), the Boston Globe Literary Press Award (1987), the first New England Booksellers Annual Award (1989), and the Leipzig Internationalen Buchkunst-Austellung (1989). In 1984, Bookbuilders of Boston awarded Godine the W. A. Dwiggins Award for maintaining standards of excellence in book production. In 2002, Godine acquired much of the backlist of the Black Sparrow Press. Both Black Sparrow and Godine are now directed editorially by Joshua Bodwell.

In January 2020, David Godine retired after 50 years directing the publishing house he co-founded. Taking his place was David Allender, the current publisher of Godine.

Together, Josh and David are creating a new tradition of excellence.