Hugh Ford. Stated first printing. New York: MacMillan, 1975. Both unclipped dust jacket (in mylar wrapper) and hardcover are in Very Good+ condition. No writing or markings found in this copy, 453 pp.
Review of Publishing in Paris by Ford (MacMillan, 1975)
Publishing in Paris is a fascinating window into the bohemian and literary life of expatriates in early- to mid-20th-century France. Ford’s writing captures the distinctive flavor of Paris’s Left Bank — a place where cafés doubled as salons, and where the written word was both currency and rebellion.
First published in 1975 by Macmillan, this volume explores the evolution of independent publishing in Paris, with particular focus on the presses that shaped literary modernism, including Shakespeare and Company, Contact Editions, and Obelisk Press. Ford draws on personal anecdotes, archival accounts, and cultural analysis to reveal how Paris became the unlikely publishing capital for many controversial or avant-garde works banned in Britain and America.
More than a historical survey, Publishing in Paris (1920-1939) is also a meditation on the spirit of literary freedom. Ford’s prose is both scholarly and affectionate, recalling the era when writers like James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and Henry Miller found sanctuary — and publication — across the Seine.
Highly recommended for readers interested in publishing history, modernist literature, or the enduring romance of Paris as a literary haven.
