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Zondervan is an international Christian communications and publishing company, and one of the four companies founded by Dutch-Americans that have made Grand Rapids, Michigan, into the USA's "Christian Publishing Capital", alongside Eerdmans, Baker Books, and Kregel.
History
Zondervan was founded in 1931 in the suburb of Grandville, by brothers P.J. (Pat) and Bernie Zondervan, who were the nephews of publisher William Eerdmans. The company began in the Zondervans' farmhouse, and originally dealt with selling remainders and reprinting public domain works. Within a couple of years it developed a list of its own. In 1960 it acquired Halley's Bible Commentary, and during the 1950s it became a Bible publisher as well. It published the Amplified Bible in 1959 and the Berkeley Version of the Bible in 1965. The New International Version NIV New Testament was published in partnership with the International Bible Society in 1973, and the complete NIV Bible appeared in 1978.
Zondervan also publishes many other books by Christian authors and focusing on topics of interest to Christians, and in the 1970s it produced the best-selling US published book of the decade: The Late Great Planet Earth by controversial writer and evangelist Hal Lindsey. That book was one of several dispensationalist and anti-Communist works that the company brought out, but it is also known for inspirational titles: Joni by quadriplegic Joni Eareckson Tada is perhaps the best-known. Most recently, it has had great success with Baptist minister and author Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life.
Recent developments
In the early 1990s, Zondervan became a division of HarperCollins, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, joining the British Christian imprints of Fount and Marshall Pickering. In 2001, Zondervan was given control of these two imprints when HarperCollinsReligious became part of the general trade division. Ownership by News International has led to some controversy, and there was an attempted staff buyout in 1992. Recently, Zondervan faced complaints about the use of Chinese printing facilities to produce Bibles.
Bernard Zondervan died of cancer in 1966, and his wife remarried William Jensen, a Grand Rapids Anesthesiologist. Pat Zondervan died in 1993.
Pradis
Zondervan's ventures into software sales have led to the emergence of another seamless library format in the biblical reference world, Pradis. While their own early software library offerings were either STEP-Compatible or able to use add-on STEP-Compatible works, or both, stagnation in the future development of the STEP Library format led to the development of a library using the Pradis system. While not open format, the availability for outside licensing and publishing makes it similar to the STEP Library and The Libronix Digital Library System, especially for users of religious software who want seamless integration of various reference works, using one application to access and cross-reference them all. Further, by limiting duplicate applications running or loaded, system registries are kept cleaner, more works can be open and cross-referenced simultaneously, Harddrive space is conserved, and it is conserved all the more where advanced compression algorithms (like Pradis boasts) are employed to store multiple large reference works.
External links
References
- Bible Publisher Confronted Over Link with Human-Rights Abuser China, Agape press, 08 October 2004
- LeBlanc, Doug, "Zondervan, Word Look for New Owners", in Christianity Today, 22 June 1992.
- Pyromarketing God of Small Things
- Ruark, James E. and Engstrom, Ted W., The House of Zondervan, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981.
- "Zondervan to Gain UK Presence", in Christian Retailer, June 2001, p. 8.
Book publishing companies | Christian media companies | Christian publishing companies | News Corporation subsidiaries | 1931 establishments
"Zondervan"