Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Castro, Fidel, 1926-2016, Trotsky, Leon, 1879-1940, Socialist Workers Party, X, Malcolm, 1925-1965, Pathfinder Press, Pioneer Publishers, Merit Publishers, and Monad Press
- Abstract:
- Record copies of books, pamphlets, and bulletins, relating to Marxist theory and socialist political analysis and commentary, and including works of Leon Trotsky, Fidel Castro, Malcolm X and others. Includes publications of Pioneer Publishers, Merit Publishers, and Monad Press, predecessors of Pathfinder Press; publications issued directly by the Socialist Workers Party and affiliates; and foreign-language translations of Pathfinder Press publications. Also includes some unpublished material related to publishing projects.
- Extent:
- 52 manuscript boxes, 5 phonotape cassettes, 1 envelope (21.8 Linear Feet)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Pathfinder Press publications, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This collection of record copies of books, pamphlets and bulletins published by Pathfinder Press and its predecessors was assembled and maintained by Pathfinder Press in New York City until its deposit in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1992. Pathfinder Press descends from Pioneer Publishers, a publishing house established in New York City in 1930 in affiliation with the Communist League of America (predecessor of the Socialist Workers Party). Pioneer Publishers was superseded by Merit Publishers in 1965, and Merit Publishers in turn was superseded by Pathfinder Press in 1969. Monad Press, which operated between 1972 and 1986, was closely associated with Pathfinder Press.
The collection includes a virtually complete set of all Pioneer, Merit, Monad and Pathfinder titles ever published. There is a distinct series of Education for Socialists bulletins. The collection also includes a number of related publications distributed by Pathfinder Press but appearing under other imprints. These consist principally of pamphlets and other works published directly by the Socialist Workers Party, its predecessors and affiliates, and associated election campaign and legal defense organizations; and foreign-language translations of works published originally by Pathfinder Press and its predecessors. Other copies of books in the collection will be found in the Hoover Institution Library and Stanford University Library.
A small volume of unpublished material, including a typescript for a book, and background research material assembled in preparation of books, also forms part of the collection.
The incremental materials consist primarily of publications dated 1993 and after. However there are a few earlier items. In addition there is a small volume of working material used by Pathfinder Press in preparation of three volumes relating to the early history of the Communist International and of the Soviet Communist Party.
A second set of incremental materials includes a large number of Persian-language imprints of Pathfinder titles published in association with Iranian publishers. Also included is an unpublished documentary manuscript on the case of Aníbal Escalante in Cuba.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Pathfinder Press descends from Pioneer Publishers, a publishing house established in New York City in 1930 in affiliation with the Communist League of America (predecessor of the Socialist Workers Party). Pioneer Publishers was superseded by Merit Publishers in 1965, and Merit Publishers in turn was superseded by Pathfinder Press in 1969. Monad Press, which operated between 1972 and 1986, was closely associated with Pathfinder Press.
Pathfinder Press and its predecessors have been publishers of works of Marxist theory and of socialist political analysis and commentary. They have been the principal English-language publishers of writings of Leon Trotsky, and have also been publishers of documentary works on the history of the early years of the Communist International, and on the histories of the Fourth International and the Socialist Workers Party; writings of James P. Cannon and other Socialist Workers Party leaders; and writings of such international figures as Malcolm X, Fidel Castro, Ernesto Guevara, the Sandinista leaders, Maurice Bishop, Thomas Sankara, and Nelson Mandela.
- Acquisition information:
- The Hoover Institution Library Archives acquired a large collection of record copies of publications by Pathfinder Press, its predecessors and related publishing houses in 1992. A register to the Pathfinder Press Publications Collection was prepared in 1994 and remains the principal overall description of and finding aid to the collection. Since its preparation additional shipments of material have been received and described in this register.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
- Terms of access:
-
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Pathfinder Press publications, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
- Location of this collection:
-
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford UniversityStanford, CA 94305-6003, US
- Contact:
- (650) 723-3563