1889: Founding of the University of Fribourg’s bookstore
A contemporary of the University of Fribourg, founded in 1889, the university’s bookstore originally specialized in selling the academic works it published itself. When Walter Egloff bought it in 1935, it was located in rather cramped premises at 16 Rue de Romont. The new owner expanded the company’s publishing activities beyond academia.
The war, the occupation of France, and the arrival of many refugees transformed Fribourg and its bookstore into a cultural hotbed, where personalities such as Father Jean de Menasce, his cousin Georges Cattaui, Pierre Emmanuel, Charles-Albert Cingria, linguist Émile Benveniste, and philologist Gianfranco Contini met.
During this period, the LUF monogram appeared, imitating the famous NRF monogram of Éditions Gallimard. The logo change coincided with the bookstore’s location moving to 22 Rue de Romont. It also corresponded with several French authors entering the publishing house: Paul Claudel (Présence et prophétie, La rose et le rosaire), Pierre Jean Jouve (Le Don Juan de Mozart, Le paradis perdu, Le bois des pauvres, Vers majeurs, La Vierge de Paris), Pierre Emmanuel (La colombe, Tombeau d’Orphée, Sodome). Each of these authors was invited to Fribourg for a lecture.
The LUF also published Le Cri de la France, an anthology edited by Pierre Courthion from 1943 onwards, which featured French classics edited and prefaced by established critics. It was in this collection that General de Gaulle’s war speeches appeared between 1944 and 1945.
With the end of the war, the recovery of the publishing market heralded a challenging future for the LUF. In the autumn of 1944, Walter Egloff organized the move of the LUF to Paris, which, in 1946, became the Librairie Universelle de France. In March 1946, Walter Egloff, Pierre Emmanuel, and Pierre Jean Jouve set up a limited liability company (SARL) at 30 Rue de l’Université. This company soon had to contend with post-war French protectionism and the desire of Parisian publishing houses to recapture the authors and readers they had lost during the war. While moving to Paris, the LUF kept its headquarters in Fribourg and the university bookstore. It pursued an ambitious publishing program until 1949.
1953: The University of Fribourg’s bookstore is replaced by Éditions Universitaires de Fribourg
By 1950, the LUF was in decline and facing insurmountable difficulties. In 1953, the publishing house was replaced by Éditions Universitaires de Fribourg, while the bookstore was bought by Antoine Dousse under the name Librairie Antoine Dousse.
2003: Éditions Saint-Paul takes over the Éditions Universitaires de Fribourg
In September 2003, Éditions Saint-Paul took over the Éditions Universitaires de Fribourg under the name Academic Press.
Éditions Saint-Paul continues to publish textbooks alongside scientific writings, as in the days of the Éditions Universitaires. At the end of 2017, the Saint-Paul group announced the closure of Academic Press.
2021: Chiron Media takes up the torch of Academic Press
In May 2021, the Chiron Media group resumed publishing new publications under the Academic Press label in accordance with various historical series. On the one hand, the aim is to renew this press's scientific and philosophical culture through new French-, German-, and English-language series and, on the other hand, to expand its distribution in Europe and beyond.