Cornell University Press

Cornell University Press was established in 1869, giving it the distinction of being the first university press to be established in the United States, although it was inactive for several decades between 1890 and 1930. From that beginning, we have grown to be a major scholarly publisher, offering 150 new titles a year in many disciplines, including anthropology, classics, cultural studies, history, literary criticism and theory, medieval studies, philosophy, politics and international relations, psychology and psychiatry, and women's studies. Our many books in the life sciences and natural history are published under the Comstock Publishing Associates imprint, and a distinguished list of books in industrial and labor relations is offered under our ILR Press imprint.

Since early 1993, the acquisitions, editorial, production, and marketing departments of the Press have been located in Sage House, where the staff keeps company with the house's carved bats and stained-glass birds. The images you see throughout this website are taken from actual stained-glass windows at Sage House. Sage House was built in the 1880s by Henry Williams Sage, then chairman of the University's Board of Trustees, and was designed by William Henry Miller, the architect later responsible for many important buildings on the Cornell campus. Contractor and chief mason were master craftsmen who had come to Ithaca from England, bringing old-world skills to the construction of the early campus.

The Press's financial department--as well as CUP Services, which handles distribution not only for the Press but also for other publishers--is located at our Cascadilla Street offices in downtown Ithaca. Staff at both locations may be reached through our Contact the Press page.