About Us

About Academic Press Fribourg

Our publishing programme (English, French and German) focuses primarily on monographs in philosophy, theology, anthropology, contemporary history, psychology and social issues.

Through our publications, we try to feed the debates of society with the contributions of modern research in the humanities and social sciences.

Successor of the University press in Fribourg founded in 1889, Academic Press Fribourg shares humanist values.

History

1889 : Creation of the bookshop at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

Contemporary of the University of Fribourg, founded in 1889, the bookshop initially focuses on selling the books it publishes. When Walter Egloff buys it in 1935, it is located at 16 rue de Romont in small offices. The new owner extends the editorial activity beyond academia.

The war, the occupation of France, and the arrival of many refugees transform Fribourg and its bookshop into a cultural hub where people like father Jean de Menasce, his cousin Georges Cattaui, Pierre Emmanuel, Charles-Albert Cingria, the linguist Émile Benveniste, the philologist Gianfranco Contini meet.

It is at that time that the LUF logo appears, imitating the famous NRF logo of the Gallimard publishing house in Paris. The change of logo coincides with the move of the bookshop of the University of Fribourg to 22 rue de Romont and with the entrance of French authors in 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 author is invited to Fribourg for a conference.

The LUF also publishes Le Cri de la France, a series of anthology overseen by Pierre Courthion from 1943, which offers classic French texts edited and prefaced by confirmed critics. It is in this series that are published the Discours de guerre of General De Gaulle between 1944 and 1945.

With the end of the war, the restart of the Swiss publishing market promises to be challenging for the LUF. From the fall of 1944, Walter Egloff organizes the move to Paris of the LUF, which becomes in 1946 the Librairie Universelle de France (French Universal Bookshop). In March 1946, Walter Egloff founds a publishing company with Pierre Emmanuel and Pierre Jean Jouve at 30 rue de l’Université in Paris. This new company will be up against post-war French protectionism and the drive of Parisian publishers to reclaim the authors and readers they lost during the war. While based in Paris, the LUF maintains its head office at the University bookshop in Fribourg, Switzerland. It continues an ambitious editorial program until 1949.

1953 : The University of Fribourg bookshop is replaced by Editions Universitaires de Fribourg

From 1950, the LUF is starting its decline, facing overwhelming challenging. In 1953, the publishing house is replaced by Editions Universitaires de Fribourg, whilst the bookshop is purchased separately by Antoine Dousse, and renamed Librairie Antoine Dousse.

2003 : Editions Saint-Paul take over from Editions Universitaires de Fribourg

In September 2003, Editions Saint-Paul take over the publishing division from Editions Universitaires de Fribourg, under the Academic Press Fribourg imprint.

Editions Saint-Paul continue, like at the time of Editions Universitaires de Fribourg, to publish manuals along with research monographs. At the end of 2017, the Saint-Paul Group announced the closure of Academic Press Fribourg.

2021 : Chiron Media takes over Academic Press Fribourg

In May 2021, Chiron Media takes over the publishing activity of Academic Press Fribourg. The goal is, on the one hand, to renew the philosophic and scientific culture of the press through new series in French, German and English, and, on the other hand, to widen its dissemination in Europe and beyond. With its partner Informascope, Chiron Media has launched on online platform dedicated to Academic Press Fribourg. The group also reinforced the online indexing and discoverability of the academic titles, from national and university library catalogues to Google Scholar, Google Books, Amazon and the multiple partner physical and digital bookshops worldwide.

Institutional referencing and indexing

National and University Library catalogs in Europe and worldwide
openlibrary.org (International Federated Library Catalogue)
openedition.org (Open Edition, The French-European Open Access Portal)
OAPEN (European Library Open Access Network)
scholar.google.com (Google Scholar)
books.google.com (Google Books)
buchfindr.de (German Federated Library catalogue)
philosophie.ch (The Swiss Philosophy Portal)
persee.fr (Persée project)
sagw.ch/fr (Swiss Academy of Human and Social Sciences)
bnf.fr (French National Library)
dnb.de (German National Library)
loc.gov (Library of Congress, USA)
bl.uk (The British Library, United Kingdom)
oclc.org (OCLC, international federation of library catalogues)
explore.rero.ch (RéRo, Western Swiss Library Network)
bookdepository.com (The International Book Depository)

Referencing in online and physical bookshops

vrin.fr (Online and physical Philosophy bookshop, France)
eyrolles.com (Online and physical bookshoop and publisher in social sciences and economics)
payot.ch (Online and physical bookshop chain Payot, Switzerland)
fnac.com (Online and physical bookshop chain in France, Belgium and worldwide)
fnac.ch (Online and physical bookshop chain, Switzerland)
decitre.fr (Online and physical bookshop, France)
amazon.com (Amazon USA online bookshop)
amazon.fr (Amazon France online bookshop)
amazon.de (Amazon Germany and Central Europe online bookshop)
amazon.co.uk (Amazon United Kingdom online bookshop)
amazon.com.au (Amazon Australia online bookshop)
mollat.com (Online and physical bookshop, France)
laprocure.com (Online and physical bookshop, France)
lalibrairie.com (Online and physical bookshop, France)
theologische-buchhandlung.de (Theology online bookshop, Germany and Central Europe)