A note from Peter Kracht, director at the University of Pittsburgh Press:

We are pleased to introduce the new University of Pittsburgh Press colophon.

The logo is a graphic representation of the Cathedral of Learning, iconic symbol of the University of Pittsburgh. Its soaring design was intended to inspire the students and scholars of the University. Begun in 1926 and finished a decade later, it is still the second-tallest academic structure and neo-Gothic building in the world. Its completion in 1936 marked the very same year as the founding of the University of Pittsburgh Press.

While it reaches for the sky, the Cathedral’s roots are deep in the hearts of ordinary people from all over the world who came to work and live in Pittsburgh. When the Great Depression threatened completion of the building, a fundraising campaign of ten cents per brick appealed to tens of thousands of local children and saved the project. And one of the Cathedral’s most inspiring features are its thirty Nationality Rooms, each one hand-crafted to represent a different culture – from Germany to Armenia, China to Turkey, and Africa to Japan. Each room was designed, built, and paid for by the many immigrant communities that also built the city of Pittsburgh.

In sum, the Cathedral of Learning represents the high aspiration of a search for the truth, grounded in the hard work of facts and careful analysis, combined with a deep appreciation for local concerns and global affairs in equal measure. It would be difficult to think of a more appropriate symbol of the University of Pittsburgh Press and the books we publish.