What Scholars Are Saying...

Professor Irving Hexham
University of Calgary

After completing my doctorate at the University of Bristol, I prepared a book manuscript entitled The Irony of Apartheid, which I submitted to various publishers. All of them liked the book and said they would love to publish it. But they also felt that there was simply no market for books on South Africa and that the last British press to publish a book on South African history had lost a lot of money.

Then I sent my manuscript to the Edwin Mellen Press. They read it carefully, sent it out for review, and can back to me with various suggestions for improvement. I made the changes and the book was published in 1981.

Subsequently it has received over thirty reviews in major academic journals. Later the noted South African historian Rodney Davenport incorporated my basic ideas in History of South Africa which for many years was the basic text on South African History.

Several years later, I published the complete English translation of The Sacred Writings of the amaNazareta of Isaiah Shembe with the Edwin Mellen Press. Other publishers were prepared to publish one or two volumes of these texts. Only Mellen was willing to publish the complete series of several volumes in the service of scholarship.

Therefore, I strongly endorse The Edwin Mellen Press, and I believe that this press provides a valuable service to the academic world.

Professor Jon Ceander Mitchell
University of Massachusetts

I am a Professor of Music at the University of Massachusetts with over fifty publications to my credit, including four books and two CDs (where I appear as a conductor). Since my second and third books, Gustav Holst: A Comprehensive Biography and The Braunschweig Scores, were aimed at primarily at those doing scholarly research, I chose to have them published by the Edwin Mellen Press, a company with an outstanding reputation. The editors who saw my two books through the various stages preceding publication did so in a very courteous and professional manner.

After publication, the Holst book in particular was hailed in Music & Letters for its insight into the composer's American visits. It has been cited in Tempo and other publications. This book was a contributing factor toward my promotion from Associate to Full professor and has led indirectly to a fourth book on Vaughan Williams (published by Meredith- -it was aimed at a more general audience) and my being offered the editorship of a scholarly journal (College Orchestra Directors Association Journal).

Dr. Sonia Lightfoot
University of Leiden

I was introduced to the Edwin Mellen Press by a well know renowned academic and author in my field of study, when attending a lecture at the Oriental Ceramic Society at Burlington House in London. He had published several books with Mellen, and suggested that this Press might be interested in my manuscript, The Collection of Chinese Painting and Relevant Correspondence of Sir James Stewart-Lockhart.

After making contact with Mellen, I later received their contract. My editors were extremely helpful and very necessary (as much of the work was in Chinese). When my manuscript was completed I contacted Professor Michael Sullivan in Oxford, the greatest specialist in 19/20th century Chinese Art in England, and asked him to contribute a preface to my book. After reviewing my manuscript, he agreed.

When my book was published, it was received favorably by colleagues. My book was mentioned in St. Hilda's College Annual Publication and the Oxford University Journal History Today. Since that time I have been asked, and agreed to take up the post of Researcher with the University of Leiden.

Professor John Steckley
Humber College

The proof of the publisher lies in the product. I have worked with a good number of publishers, including four university presses (University of Oklahoma Press, University of Toronto Press, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, and Oxford University Press), so I am well able to comment on the significance of what Edwin Mellen publishes.

Very few publishers will touch dictionaries in Aboriginal languages. These publishers lack the vision to see the immense cultural heritage value of these works. When I discovered that Edwin Mellen has recently published a Nootka dictionary, I became excited by the possibility that they would publish my 30 years work in the Huron or Wendat language. I had all but given up on that possibility.

My Huron Dictionary: Verb Roots and Noun Roots was published by Mellen in time to prove very useful in the Awenda Project, a Canadian government attempt to teach the Huron of Wendake people their traditional language. My dictionary was invaluable to that end.

One thing that I very much appreciate at every step of the production process with Edwin Mellen was the way in which they consulted with me. We worked together as partners. They respected my vision and my suggestions. They did not try to impose any restrictions that would limit the value of my book. However, their suggestions enabled my dictionary to be better than it would otherwise have been.

Professor Kenneth Westhues
University of Waterloo

Over the past forty years, I have authored or edited about fifteen books. The gratifying thing about my books from Mellen is that they have attracted more serious readers and garnered more serious responses than all my previous books combined.

My Mellen books have prompted hundreds of readers to write me, consult with me, invite me to their institutions, and best of all, to undertake research projects of their own in this area. My books from Mellen Press have become an instrument for the development of a new field of social scientific inquiry, academic mobbing, wherein theses, journal articles, conference papers, and books are multiplying each year.

The Edwin Mellen press has also engaged reviewers more viscerally - so I conclude from the several dozen reviews I have read. In 2006, The Chronicle of Higher Education even did a cover story on my research. None of my previous books received such attention.

The Edwin Mellen Press has given me sound, constructive feedback both pre-and post-publication. It has produced physically attractive and long-lasting volumes, marketed them appropriately, kept them in print, and filled orders promptly. I respect the Edwin Mellen Press and am honored by its interest in my work.

Professor John Parkin
University of Bristol

I have published five books with Mellen over my career. I choose them repeatedly because of their reliability and forthrightness in dealing with authors. Their contracts are always fully clear; they maintain a full brief on all ongoing research; and they are commendably flexible over deadlines.

I have also peer-reviewed a number of texts for The Edwin Mellen Press and am impressed with their standards which seem more demanding than other publishing houses. For instance, as well as requiring independent peer review, The Edwin Mellen Press has for many years refused to accept a manuscript unless it is recommended by three established scholars, one of whom supplies the Preface to the book. (It is a condition of publication that this process take place prior to formal peer review).

In my case scholars have proved very willing to submit material in support of my publications, which were the major justification for my being awarded a personal chair in Bristol in 2002. I certainly would stand lower within my institution without Mellen's support, and I have remained grateful and indebted to them since first being promoted senior lecturer in 1993.

Dr. Dean Chavers
Native American
Scholarship Fund

I want to tell how much I appreciate the great treatment I got from The Edwin Mellen Press. Mellen published my book, "Modern American Indian Leaders" in June 2007. The people I wrote about had never been featured anywhere; some of them had never even been in a newspaper article. But they had made tremendous things happen.

Mellen was totally professional in dealing with me and the book. I got great service from the editor, the technical staff, and the sales staff. The staff was highly responsive to queries, and responded immediately. We had no real problems during the entire process, since the staff handled all the minor things that came up.

The book has been very well received in academia. Several people wrote reviews of it, and it got quite a lot of attention. Dr. Troy Johnson of California State University at Long Beach wrote the foreword to it, and is now using it as a textbook. In addition, UCLA, the University of Arizona, and the University of North Carolina plan to use it as a textbook.

I am just now getting attention from the universities. This month I will lecture at two different universities because of the book. And I am certain there will be more invitations in the future.

Mellen Press is to be commended for the great help they have been to the scholarly community.

Professor Margaret E. Wye
Rockhurst University

The publication of my dissertation, Jane Austen's Emma: Embodied Metaphor as a Cognitive Construct, in 1998 was instrumental for launching my academic career. The publication of my book, and the universal regard that we have on my campus for the integrity of The Edwin Mellen Press, was instrumental in my being tenured and promoted to Associate Professor in 2000, and to full Professor in 2008.

More recently, and specifically because of the publication of my first book, I have expanded my Jane Austen research. It was that earlier publication that facilitated my getting a 2003 National Endowment for the Humanities to begin working on my current book, Architectural Influences on Jane Austen's Narratives, now in production. I am particularly proud of the prestigious libraries that have acquired my first book for their collections.

The Edwin Mellen Press occupies a necessary and important position in the academic world because it allows scholars to explore the deeper and more tantalizing areas of interest. Without the Mellen Press, many important ideas would sink under the relentless tides of commerce and capitalism.