Edicions de la Magrana

Description

Founded in 1975 by Francesc Vidal, Jaume Fuster, Jordi Moners i Sinyol and Carles-Jordi Guardiola i Noguera, all four of them members of the PSAN (National Socialist Liberation Party), Edicions de la Magrana was launched with the goal of becoming a referent in books on history and political thought. Subsequently, after 1978, it was reorganised in an effort to survive the crisis and it added new thematic contents, including literature – children’s books, novels and poetry – cooking, biographies, travel guides and others, all grouped into different collections. From that year on, it expanded its themes and collections, reoriented its economic affairs and welcomed new shareholders such as Àlex Broch, Vinyet Panyella, Lluís Jou, Lluís Simon, Jordi Úbeda, Miquel Horta and Antoni Tàpies. In the early 1980s, Edicions 62 purchased 17% of its shares. The publishing house still exists and focuses on more commercially-oriented literary publications until it was purchased by the RBA Group in 2000 as an independent imprint. In 2004, it permanently merged with RBA.

Placard announcing the appearance of the first three books

The origin of the name of this publishing house (which translates to Pomegranate Publications) can be traced back to the political affinities of the founders, who sought a name that would suggest union. The first proposal was Edicions de les Germanies (Publications of the Brotherhoods), which was rejected because it could be confused with Germania. With the idea of unity, the founders thought of “pinyas” (meaning pineapples, as well as the group of people that make up the strong base of a human tower) and “magranas” (pomegranates) and chose the pomegranate; hence Edicions de la Magrana. As the name was chosen with the idea and intention of expression union or togetherness, the logo had to reflect this, too. The first design was four hands holding each other by the wrist, but it had to be rejected because it was already registered by another brand. Then a logo was designed with one hand and four circles laid out in a diamond shape. Afterwards the hand was removed and only the circles remained, first black in a white square and later white with no square.

The first three logos

Edicions de la Magrana

Authors

As Edicions de la Magrana grew in output, themes and collections, it also expanded its roster of authors. Its publishing policy and its goal of becoming a benchmark in Catalonia and disseminating universal works to make them available to everyone is reflected in its list of authors.

Edicions de la Magrana

Illustrators and photographers

Carme Solé Vendrell and Fina Rifà are the publishing house’s main illustrators. They render the drawings for books from the children’s and young reader collections: L'Esparver Poesia, L'Esparver Il·lustrat and Petit Esparver. Other illustrators include Steven Kellogg, Philip Hopman, Imma Pla and Montse Ginesta.

Edicions de la Magrana

Collections

In line with the ideology of its founders, the initial collections of Edicions de la Magrana primarily revolve around historical and political topics. Three of them were created: Alliberament, Biblioteca de Clàssics del Socialisme and La Magrana. The expansion of the range of themes and the publishing output also meant an increase in the number of collections, until the imprint had almost 60, covering all the literary genres. L'Esparver and the ones that spring from it and Les Ales Esteses are the most prominent ones. When it merged with RBA, some of the collections were continued under similar names, such as Biblioteca del Catalanisme and Clàssics de Grècia i de Roma, which originated from Biblioteca dels Clàssics del Nacionalisme Català (1983-1993) and L’Esparver Clàssic (1993-2000), respectively.

Edicions de la Magrana

Magazines

Edicions de la Magrana issued a magazine that reports on new publications, the prizes it offers, authors and the press reports of the works it has published. It was initially entitled La Magrana: butlletí de novetats i notícies d’Edicions de la Magrana but after 1995 it was renamed Magrana. Butlletí de novetats i notícies d’Edicions de la Magrana. It began to be published in 1993 and lasted until 1997. The last year it included a supplement called Magrana/Reforma targeted at the world of secondary education. It was primarily bimonthly.

La Magrana: butlletí de novetats i notícies d’Edicions La Magrana (1993-1997)

Edicions de la Magrana

Outstanding works

The initial ideological nature of the publishing house is reflected in the early works that it issued:

Un país sense política de Joan Fuster

Síntesi d’història dels Països Catalans de Jordi Moners

Les denúncies d’Antoni Mus

Edicions de la Magrana

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Authors

Illustrators and photographers

Collections

Magazines

Outstanding works

Awards