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Fifty Years of The Elements of Style
Anniversary Edition Commemorates Strunk & White's Classic Style Guide
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New York, NY February 16, 2009 -- Fifty years after first making its mark as the definitive guide to writing style and usage, Strunk and White's The Elements of Style is now available in an anniversary edition from Longman Publishers, an imprint of Pearson.
The best-known and best-selling book about writing ever published, more than 10 million copies of The Elements of Style have been sold since its first publication in 1959. The original Boston Globe review, quoted in the front of the commemorative edition, still holds true today: "No book in shorter space, with fewer words, will help any writer more than this persistent little volume."
In 1957, E.B. White rediscovered the brief guide to clear English writing style that had been self-published by William Strunk, Jr., a favorite writing teacher during White's undergraduate years at Cornell University. White, an acclaimed editorialist and essayist at the New Yorker and the author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, expressed his admiration in a New Yorker article. When an editor at Macmillan persuaded White to revise and expand Professor Strunk's 43-page book, that essay served as its introduction, and the book often known as "Strunk and White" was born. White later revised the book twice, in 1972 and 1979, and a fourth edition appeared in 2000 with a foreword by White's stepson, writer Roger Angell.
The Elements of Style 50th anniversary edition is a black leather-bound, gold-embossed reprint of the fourth edition. New commemorative material includes a publisher's note outlining the book's publishing history, and "fifty years of acclaim" from leading literary figures past and present, including Dorothy Parker, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Jim Lehrer, Ann Patchett, Richard Ford, Robert Pinsky, Dan Rather, Jonathan Lethem, Julia Alvarez, Roy Blount, Jr., Thomas Mallon and David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker.
The Elements of Style has influenced generations of writers, and indeed may be more relevant than ever in today's world of blogs, wikis and other online communication and expression. As E.B. White said in his introduction: "... it still seems to maintain its original poise, standing in a drafty time, erect, resolute and assured."
The official 50th anniversary of The Elements of Style is April 16, 2009, and an event to celebrate the occasion will be held in New York City with a panel of writers and journalists discussing the power of the "little book," featuring acclaimed writers Roger Rosenblatt, Roy Blount Jr. and Barbara Wallraff, columnist for The Atlantic. In addition, the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections at Cornell University, keepers of the papers of E.B. White, will host an exhibit in Olin Library to coincide with the anniversary. Materials include White's typewriter, handwritten notes, photographs and more.
"Not until I started teaching writing and I reread The Elements of Style did I realize that most everything I would be teaching young writers, and everything I would be learning myself as a writer, was contained between the covers of this slim, elegant, wise little book," said Julia Alvarez, author of How the García Girls Lost their Accents and In the Time of Butterflies.
"The Elements of Style never seems to go out of date," said David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker. "Its counsel is sound and funny, wise and unpretentious. And while its precepts are a foundation of direct communication, Strunk and White do not insist on a way of writing beyond clear expression. The rest is up to the imagination, the intelligence within."
About the Authors:
E. B. White, one of America's most influential essayists, is best remembered for his work at the New Yorker magazine. He is also the author of the beloved children's classics Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web, and the revised edition of William Strunk Jr.'s The Elements of Style. A graduate of Cornell University, White was the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including the Gold Medal for Essays and Criticism from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for his children's books, and the National Medal for Literature. In 1973, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and in 1978 he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize special citation for his body of work. He died in 1985, in North Brooklin, Maine.
William Strunk Jr. was Professor of English at Cornell University and is best known as the author of the first edition of The Elements of Style. Strunk earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Cincinnati, and his Ph.D. at Cornell University. He died in 1946.
About Pearson:
Pearson (NYSE:PSO), the global leader in education and education technology, reaches and engages today's digital natives with effective and personalized learning, as well as dedicated professional development for their teachers. This commitment is demonstrated in the company's investment in innovative print and digital education materials for preK through college, student information systems and learning management systems, teacher professional development, career certification programs, and testing and assessment products that set the standard for the industry. The company's respected brands include Scott Foresman, Prentice Hall, Addison Wesley, Benjamin Cummings, Educational Measurement, Educational Assessment, SuccessNet, MyLabs, PowerSchool, SuccessMaker, and many others. Pearson's comprehensive offerings help inform targeted instruction and intervention so that success is within reach of every student at every level of education. Pearson's commitment to education for all is supported by the global philanthropic initiatives of the Pearson Foundation. Pearson's other primary businesses include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group. For more information, go to www.pearson.com.
The Elements of Style fiftieth anniversary press materials
Permission granted upon request: contact Ron Longe, Media Masters Publicity, ron@mmpublicity.com, (212) 866-2906.
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Date of original
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Description
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| E.B. White to Jack Case, July 29 1957 |
July 29, 1957
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This is an old photocopy of E.B. White's first letter to editor Jack Case at Macmillan, who had seen White's piece in The New Yorker and asked White to contribute the piece to a new edition of The Elements of Style. |
| Jack Case to E.B. White, April 22 1959 |
April 22, 1959
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With this letter, Case sent White his first copy of the newly published The Elements of Style: "Here it is---lean and clean and sound as a dollar, which is what it costs." He goes on to say "Copies...are being showered like rose petals on campuses from coast to coast." |
| Western Union Telegram, Aug 20 1959 |
August 20, 1959
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This telegram from California Book Company (supplier to the Berkeley College bookstore) is an indicator of the early success of The Elements of Style. Placing an order for more copies, it ends with the words "Whole campus gone wild." |
| Herald Tribune bestseller list, Dec 13 1959 |
December 13, 1959
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The Elements of Style was a true bestseller from the beginning. Here it appears at #5 on the Herald Tribune bestseller list of December 13, 1959, after 21 weeks on the list. |
| E.B. White to Jack Case, March 30 1962 |
March 30, 1962
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In this amusing short note, White (signed "Andy") gives an example of a sentence which ends in five prepositions, and threatens to include it in a revision of The Elements of Style. |
| E.B. White to Jack Case, June 28 1967 |
June 28, 1967
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In this letter, E.B. White (signed "Andy") thanks Jack Case for sending photocopies of what was apparently Will Strunk's own copy of the original Elements of Style. |
| E.B. White to Jack Case, Feb 16 1970 |
February 16, 1970
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In this letter, signed "Andy," E.B. White bemoans the popular usage of "hopefully": "I regard the word 'hopefully' as beyond recall." |
| A gem of a book, May 21 1972 |
May 21, 1972
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E.B. White returned his copy of this full-page ad for The Elements of Style to Macmillan with a correction cleverly written (in blue ink) in the same ungrammatical style as the error itself: "It is one of the common mistakes that is made." It is believed that the penciled note (referring White to "p. 48 of the little book" for correct usage) is from Eleanor Gould Packard, the renowned longtime New Yorker copy editor, who received an acknowledgment in the second edition for the help she gave White with the book. |
| College Sales Personnel Memo, Aug 11 1977 |
August 11, 1977
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This in-house memo to Macmillan sales personnel (dated 8/11/77) demonstrates that the book has become a standard of good writing style. The writer quotes an article which says that the U.S. Secretary of Housing, "fed up with bureaucratese," ordered The Elements of Style for her staff. |
| Strunk and White author photos |
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E.B. White photo taken by the New York Times. Used courtesy of the E.B. White Estate.William Strunk, Jr. Used courtesy of Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Kroch Library, Cornell University. |
Contact:
Susan Aspey
Susan.aspey (at) pearson.com
(724) 222-0531 or (347) 421-2473
Ron Longe
Media Masters Publicity
ron@mmpublicity.com
(212) 866-2906
Tracey Daniels
Media Masters Publicity
tracey@mmpublicity.com
(828) 859-9456
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