History
In 1945 Routledge and Kegan Paul published a
book by an unknown author, Karl Popper. Originally entitled A
Social Philosophy for Everyman, it had been turned down by a
number of publishers when Herbert Read, then a director of Routledge,
determined to take it on. It came out under the title The
Open Society and Its Enemies, published in two volumes, and
has been continuously in print ever since. The story of its vicissitudes
is told by Sir Ernst Gombrich in the foreword to the new one volume
edition of The
Open Society and its Enemies. (Originally published in Poppers
Open Society After Fifty Years.)
The publication of The
Open Society and Its Enemies and Poppers almost simultaneous
appointment to a Readership at the London School of Economics changed
the course of Poppers life.
The
Logic of Scientific Discovery was published by Hutchinson
in 1959, and they published also the three volumes of The
Postscript to the Logic of Scientific Discovery in the 1980s.
In 1989 the Hutchinson academic list was acquired by Unwin Hyman. When
Routledge acquired the academic lists of Unwin Hyman in 1991, the works
of Popper formed part of the sale. Routledge immediately took steps
to secure all rights to his autobiography, Unended
Quest, and some other works in progress. Before his death,
Karl Popper designated Routledge his publisher of choice for all his
books and any future volumes that might be edited from his Nachlass.
We are pleased to have been able to publish several such volumes, including
The
World of Parmenides in 1998, and All
Life is Problem Solving in 1999.
Karl Popper remains one of the most important
authors in Routledges philosophy list. This year is the centenary
of Poppers birth, and we are re-issuing several of Poppers
works in the Routledge Classics and launching a one volume edition of
The
Open Society and Its Enemies to mark this occassion. There
are also plans in Germany, Austria and elsewhere for the celebration
of this event.
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