WHAT IS A BORZOI BOOK? It is only a name... : eBay Guides

A Borzoi Book is simply a brand name -- there's nothing special about it, really, no matter how the book manufacturer tries to spin the story. It's a marketing technique to make the buyer think they've really got something really special.

Compare it with the way cars are named -- An Impala car is made by Chevy. It's a brand. A Borzoi book is made (was made) by Alfred A. Knopf book printers. It's a brand.

So to make Knopf books sound like THEIR books are better than Harcourt books, for example, they assign it a fancy name and give it a fancy dog logo -- a Borzoi. Borzoi dogs are known for having "silky" coats. Maybe Mr. Knopf thought a "silken coated book" sounded special. Either that or a Borzoi was Knopf's favorite breed of dog.

The point is -- don't get conned into thinking it's something really special. It's just a brand name.

It's a tradition of fine bookmaking from Knopf. Read Alfred A. Knopf's own definition here:

"From the very beginning we have frequently been asked the meaning of the word "Borzoi" and what it has to do with books. When I started in business the publisher I admired most was London's William Heinemann, and the sign of a Heinemann book was a windmill, drawn for him, I think, by William Nicholson. Since a windmill obviously had nothing to do with books, I saw no reason why we could not adopt the Borzoi as our mark. We had an alliterative trademark that was calculated to provoke curiosity.

Knopf is a difficult name for many people to pronounce, and I felt there might be an advantage in having two strings, so to speak, to the bow of our imprint. Now everyone in the trade knows how few people ever remember the name of the publisher of any book. I think we have been more successful than any of our contemporaries in breaking down this ignorance. The letters I have received over the years from unknown correspondents on this point have been many and flattering, frequently to the point of exaggeration, as when the correspondent says that he is always safe in buying a Borzoi book, that all Borzoi books are good books, and such nonsense." - From: Knopf, Alfred A., "Publishing Then and Now: 1912-1964." Portrait of a Publisher, 1915-1965: Reminiscences and Reflections by Alfred A. Knopf, 1965.

THE BORZOI CREDO

The Borzoi Credo appeared originally as an advertisement in The Atlantic Monthly, November 1957 as follows:

"I believe that a publisher's imprint means something, and that if readers paid more attention to the publisher of the books they buy, their chances of being disappointed would be infinitely less.

I believe that good books should be well made, and I try to give every book I publish a format that is distinctive and attractive.

I believe that I have never published an unworthy book.

I believe that a publisher has a moral as well as a commercial obligation to his authors to try in every way to promote the sales of their books, to keep them in print, and to enhance his author's prestige.

I believe that a review by an incompetent critic is a sin against the author, the book, the publisher, and the publication in which the review appears.

I believe that the basic need of the book business is not Madison Avenue ballyhoo, but more booksellers who love and understand books and who can communicate their enthusiasm to a waiting audience.

I believe that magazines, movies, television, and radio will never replace good books."

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