Mercier Press
Founded1944
FounderSeán Feehan
Country of originIreland
Headquarters locationCork
DistributionGill (Ireland)[1]
Dufour Editions (USA)[2]
Nonfiction topicsIrish History, Biography, Sport, Politics, Business and Current Affairs
Fiction genresLiterature, Kids
Official websitewww.mercierpress.ie

Mercier Press is a publisher based in Cork, Ireland. It is the longest established independent Irish publishing house.[3]

History

The company was founded in 1944 by Seán Feehan, and initially published religious books. In 1946 they published This Tremendous Lover by Dom Eugene Boylan which sold over a million copies. At the Frankfurt Book Fair Feehan secured the translation rights of German books on philosophy and religion that sold well. In the 1960s they launched a successful range of paperbacks on Irish literature, culture, religion and history.[4]

Feehan remained chairman until his death in 1991, after which John Spillane took over until 2003, when Clodagh Feehan was appointed manager director.[4]

In the 1960s and 1970s the Mercier paperback books had a distinctive cover style.[5] This usually consisted of an illustration, in both pen & ink and brush & ink, and always in two colour. The format and back cover layout remained the same on each book. The artist John Skelton (1925–2009) was Mercier's main cover designer – he worked as an art director and book illustrator before concentrating full-time on painting in 1975.

References

  1. ↑ "Our Clients". Gill Distribution. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  2. ↑ "Publishers – Dufour Editions". Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  3. ↑ "Mercier Press web-site". Mercier Press. Archived from the original on 24 November 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Irish publisher whose printed pages keep turning in pace with history". Under the Radar. Dublin. The Irish Times. 26 February 2010.
  5. ↑ John M. Feehan. An Irish Publisher and His World. Mercier Press, Cork, 1969
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