Pathfinder Press

American publishing house affiliated with the Socialist Workers Party.

Historical Note

This collection of record copies of books, pamphlets and bulletins published by Pathfinder Press and its predecessors was assembled and maintained by Pathfinder Press in New York City until its deposit in the Hoover Institution Archives in 1992. Pathfinder Press descends from Pioneer Publishers, a publishing house established in New York City in 1930 in affiliation with the Communist League of America (predecessor of the Socialist Workers Party). Pioneer Publishers was superseded by Merit Publishers in 1965, and Merit Publishers in turn was superseded by Pathfinder Press in 1969. Monad Press, which operated between 1972 and 1986, was closely associated with Pathfinder Press.

Pathfinder Press and its predecessors have been publishers of works of Marxist theory and of socialist political analysis and commentary. They have been the principal English-language publishers of writings of Leon Trotsky, and have also been publishers of documentary works on the history of the early years of the Communist International, and on the histories of the Fourth International and the Socialist Workers Party; writings of James P. Cannon and other Socialist Workers Party leaders; and writings of such international figures as Malcolm X, Fidel Castro, Ernesto Guevara, the Sandinista leaders, Maurice Bishop, Thomas Sankara, and Nelson Mandela.

The collection includes a virtually complete set of all Pioneer, Merit, Monad and Pathfinder titles ever published. There is a distinct series of Education for Socialists bulletins. The collection also includes a number of related publications distributed by Pathfinder Press but appearing under other imprints. These consist principally of pamphlets and other works published directly by the Socialist Workers Party, its predecessors and affiliates, and associated election campaign and legal defense organizations; and foreign-language translations of works published originally by Pathfinder Press and its predecessors. Other copies of books in the collection will be found in the Hoover Institution Library and Stanford University Library.

A small volume of unpublished material, including a typescript for a book, and background research material assembled in preparation of books, also forms part of the collection.

Biography Note

Pathfinder Press was established in New York City in 1969 as a successor to Pioneer Publishers (1930-1965) and Merit Publishers (1965-1969), and has been associated with the Socialist Workers Party. It has been the principal English-language publisher of works of Leon Trotsky, and has also published documentary works on the Communist International, Fourth International and Socialist Workers Party, writings of Fidel Castro, Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X and other American and international leftist leaders, and historical and analytical works on a variety of national and international political issues.

A Pathfinder Press Collection, donated by the Anchor Foundation, was established in the Hoover Institution Archives in 1992, and consists of record copies of publications of the press. This separate Pathfinder Press Photographic Collection was received from the Anchor Foundation in 2004.