Salvat Editores

Description

The Salvat imprint is known for its encyclopaedic works.
In 1898, Manual Salvat established Salvat e Hijo, a family-owned publishing house which was handed down from generation to generation until it was purchased by Hachette in 1988. Its origins date back to 1869, when Manuel Salvat i Xivixell created the family-owned company Espasa Hermanos y Salvat, which split off into two important companies, Espasa Hermanos and Salvat.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Salvat i Fill (Salvat e Hijo) started a process of updating and modernisation which turned it into a cutting-edge publishing house in terms of technology, commercialisation and distribution. In 1923, it changed its name to Salvat Editors and embarked upon a period of expansion into Latin America. During the Franco dictatorship, it experienced many economic and bureaucratic difficulties from which it did not fully recover until the 1950s. Throughout the 1960s, it underwent a second transformation with new headquarters and a new distributors in order to expand its sales and sell in more than just kiosks. It also began its expansion into the European market, while also increasing its presence in Latin America. Economic difficulties due to defaults in Mexico and competition with Planeta, along with its sales strategies in the publishing market, meant that even though Salvat remained one of the most solid imprints, Hachette purchased it in 1988 and retained its imprint for some publications.

Salvat Editores

Authors

As Salvat primarily publishes encyclopaedias, informational texts and works in fascicles, it has few literary authors, including Josep Pijoan and Joan Amades.

• Amades, Joan, 1890-1959

• Pijoan, Josep, 1881-1963

Salvat Editores

Magazines

Salvat published Hojas Selectas. Revista Universal Ilustrada (1902-1920).

• Hojas selectas : revista universal ilustrada (1902-1920)

Salvat Editores

Outstanding works

Primarily focused on encyclopaedic and informational works, the following stand out from its early period: the Diccionario Salvat Enciclopédico Popular Ilustrado (1906-14), the Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana (1910), the Historia del Arte (1914) and the Historia del Mundo (1926) by Josep Pijoan, as well as the Enciclopedia Agrícola Wery (1928), the Atlas Geográfico Salvat (1928) and the Cirugía, Tratado Teórico-práctico de Patología y Clínica Quirúrgicas (1925) by W. W. Keen.

From the period when it was expanding into Latin America, this is the most prominent work, along with kiosk fascicles, such as the Enciclopedia Monitor (1969) and the Enciclopedia Salvat de la Fauna (1970-73), by Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, and the Biblioteca Básica de clàssics universals  (Basic library of universal classics) co-published with RTVE.

In Catalan, outstanding works besides the Diccionari Enciclopèdic de la Llengua Catalana (1910), include the new edition adapted to the norms of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans, expanded into four volumes in 1930, the Costumari Català (1950-56), by Joan Amades, in five volumes and reissued in 1982, the Salvat Català (1974-77), a encyclopaedic dictionary in eight volumes and the Història de Catalunya (1978-79), in six volumes.

Cover of a fascicle of Diccionario Salvat Enciclopédico Popular Ilustrado (1906-1914) and the first volume of Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana (1910).