PW: MFA Boston Starts Trade List

Judith Rosen |

Jul 10, 2000

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MFA Boston Starts Trade List
Judith Rosen -- 7/10/00

Looking to broaden its program, the publications division of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, will launch its first trade publishing list this fall under the MFA Publications imprint.

MFA publisher Mark Polizzotti, formerly with Random House, Grove Weidenfeld and David R. Godine, told PW, "We never had trade distribution. When we had a trade book, we went to another publisher, like Little, Brown or Yale, and we acted as a packager." Starting this fall, MFA, which has had a continuous book-publishing program since 1877, will issue all the books it develops. This year it will publish as many as 15 books (up from two last year), and will do a projected 25 titles annually within the next two years. Staff will increase from three to six within the next few months, with more jobs to be added in the coming year.

Polizzotti jokingly described many of the works on the museum's 120-book backlist as "confidential publications," for the museum only. He recently signed with art book distributor D.A.P. to gain wider bookstore distribution. He also plans to reach out to the general public with a publications Web site, which will link with the MFA's own site, which sells art books from various publishers.

In addition, Polizzotti is redefining what the program will publish, beyond exhibition catalogues or works linked to the museum's permanent collection. He cited a big book on MFA's inaugural list, a paperback reprint of John Updike's 1989 collection of essays on art, Just Looking (due out in January),which will be part of an as-yet-unnamed series of art classics. Also on the MFA's first trade list is Darcy Kuronen's Dangerous Curves: The Art of the Guitar, a tie-in to an upcoming exhibit.
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A version of this article appeared in the 07/10/2000 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: