Le Livre de Poche celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2013

Le Livre de Poche is 60 years old! “Une vie à lire” (“A lifetime of reading”) proclaims the publisher’s latest slogan, celebrating 60 years of publishing committed to enthusiastically seeking out and building a loyal readership.

After only 60 years, Le Livre de Poche’s accomplishments are, in many respects, staggering: the sheer size and variety of its catalogue (comprising 5,200 titles in 2012), a roster of more than 2,000 authors and over a billion books manufactured and sold since 1953.

The publishing company’s strength is also embodied in its distribution figures, both within France (where it is sold in 20,000 retail outlets) and beyond, with a reach extending to all corners of the French-speaking world, from Canada to Switzerland and Belgium, among many other countries.

This unique publishing house also profoundly marked the second half of the 20th century by creating an irreversible “break” in French publishing through the democratization of great literary works. This virtual cultural revolution was made possible through the energy and determination of its founder, Henri Filipacchi, and provoked a fierce debate among intellectuals, some throwing their support strongly behind this movement to make literature more accessible to the masses and others seeing it as a “debasing” tactic.

The year 2013 promises to be a bountiful one for new releases, encounters with many great Le Livre de Poche authors and fresh discoveries. We are particularly pleased to celebrate this anniversary with booksellers; as a publisher, we regard their curiosity, raves and rants, and enthusiasm as invaluable advice that helps readers to make judicious choices in an increasingly abundant market.

This year will also mark a new development stage with the creation of the Le Livre de Poche e-book and a digital catalogue (including the classics, of course, plus a wide range of other literature, including thrillers and fantasy novels), all perfectly in keeping with our image as an eclectic, top-notch publisher.
Le Livre de Poche is, 60 years after its creation, finally and above all a human adventure undertaken by the passionate individuals comprising its editorial, artistic, marketing, production and sales teams, who constantly merge their skills every day in search of excellence.

May Le Livre de Poche continue to thrive throughout the 21st century! The story has just begun…

Cécile Boyer-Runge,
Managing director of Le Livre de Poche

Le Livre de Poche at a glance

Published by the Librairie Générale Française

• Catalogue included 5,200 titles as of 31 December 2012
• Over 20,000 titles published since 1953
• Over a billion books distributed since its inception
• Approximately 400 new books released per year
• Over 18 million copies sold in 2012
• The leader in the adult paperback market
• Distributed internationally to nearly all of the world’s countries

Chronology

• 1953
  Le Livre de Poche founded by Henri Filipacchi; first releases included Koenigsmark by P. Benoit, The Keys to the Kingdom by A. J. Cronin and L’Ingénue libertine by Colette
• 1955
  Le Livre de Poche Pratique (practical books)
• 1958
  Le Livre de Poche Classique (literary classics)
  Founded by Roger Nimier, this collection is now led by Michel Zink and Michel Jarrety
• 1960
  Le Livre de Poche Policier (detective novels)
• 1967
  Launch of the Jules Verne series (re-issue of his work from the Hetzel edition)
• 1968
  Creation of Méthode 90 (a self-study language method)
• 1982
  The Biblio collection, created by Jean-Claude Brisville
• 1983
  The Biblio Essais collection, created by Bernard-Henri Lévy and currently led by Jean-Paul Enthoven
• 1986
  Le Livre de Poche Science-Fiction, led by Gérard Klein
• 1988
  Les Langues Modernes: a collection of monolingual and bilingual books (in English, German, Spanish, Italian etc.)
• 1989
  The Classiques de la Philosophie collection, led by Jean-François Balaudé
• 1992
  La Pochothèque/Le Livre de Poche Références
  This collection devoted to the humanities includes works by eminent specialists (basic works, previously unpublished summaries etc.)
• 2007
  Le Livre de Poche Fantasy
• 2008
  Creation of Bulles en Poche (comics)
• 2010
  La Lettre et la Plume: history in the light of such intimate, hand-penned works as memoirs, correspondence, diaries and chronicles
• 2013
  Launch of Le Livre de Poche e-book