Curial Edicions Catalanes was founded in 1972 by Max Cahner. Focused on the fields of Catalan history and culture, it published philological, literary and historical essays from the culture, as well as Catalan literary works and classics from world literature. Catalan-language reference works and geography and history books were some of the publishing house’s fortes, including the Diccionari Etimològic i Complementari de la Llengua catalana and the Onomasticon cataloniae by Joan Coromines; the Geografia comarcal de Catalunya and the Petit Curial enciclopèdic. Finally, Curial also published facsimile editions and magazines.
+ informationCurial Edicions Catalanes collection (ca. 1972-1995) in the Biblioteca de Catalunya
In the late 1990s, the administrative documentation and stocks of publications were deposited and conserved in the former school in the town of Navés. In 2006, in agreement with the mayor of this town, the Biblioteca de Catalunya retrieved the documentation.
More information and documentation on the works produced
More documentation at the Fundació Pere Coromines (Pere Coromines Foundation)
Curial Edicions Catalanes
Bohigas, Pere, “Curial, una empresa audaç”, Serra d’Or, 220 (gener 1978), p. 45-46.
Bonada, Lluís, “Curial, bon treball d’infraestructura cultural”, Serra d’Or, 339 (gener 1988), p. 28-31.
Llanas, Manuel. L’edició de Catalunya: el segle XX (els darrers trenta anys). Barcelona: Gremi d’Editors de Catalunya, 2007.
Curial Edicions Catalanes was founded in 1972 by Max Cahner. Focused on the fields of Catalan history and culture, it published philological, literary and historical essays from the culture, as well as Catalan literary works and classics from world literature. Catalan-language reference works and geography and history books were some of the publishing house’s fortes, including the Diccionari Etimològic i Complementari de la Llengua catalana and the Onomasticon cataloniae by Joan Coromines; the Geografia comarcal de Catalunya and the Petit Curial enciclopèdic. Finally, Curial also published facsimile editions and magazines.
The more than 400 titles that it issued were grouped into different collections: Biblioteca de Cultura Catalana, Biblioteca d’Història dels Països Catalans and Documents de Cultura. It also published critical editions and facsimiles, magazines for universities (Els Marges, Randa, Recerques, Estudis d’Història Agrària, Fonaments, Revista de Catalunya) and basic reference works (the Geografia comarcal de Catalunya and the Diccionari Etimològic i Complementari de la Llengua Catalana by Joan Coromines, and the Petit Curial Enciclopèdic). The publishing house stopped publishing independently in the late 1990s and today continues to issue publications under the umbrella of the Fundació Pere Coromines (Pere Coromines Foundation).
Philologists, classic writers and historians figure the most prominently on the list of authors who published with Curial, a reflection of the fields of study that the publishing house sought to promote.
Prominent collections among the dozens issued by this publishing house are Autors Catalans Antics, Biblioteca de Cultura Catalana and Documents de Cultura-Facsímils.
The publishing house’s magazines tended to be specialised and focus on university-level humanistic topics. Randa, Els Marges and La Revista de Catalunya, among others, are the most prominent titles out of a total of seven.
Cover of Randa, no. 1 (1975)
Cover of Revista de Catalunya, no. 1 (October 1986), the first issue published by Curial.
Cover of the magazine Els Marges, no. 1, (1974)
The works produced by this publishing house are mainly on the topics of history, literature, philology. Notable works are:
Cover of vol. 2 of Coromines, Joan. Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana. Barcelona: Curial: Caixa de Pensions "La Caixa", 1980-2001. 10 vol.
Cover of Torres Amat, Fèlix. Memorias para ayudar a formar un diccionario crítico de los escritores catalanes (Barcelona, 1836). Barcelona: Curial, 1973 (Documents de cultura-facsímils; 1-2)
Cover of Petit Curial Enciclopèdic: il·lustrat. Barcelona: Curial, 1979.