Series II. Books and Arts Associates Records, 1969-1980, 2015, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
The Books and Arts Associates Records cover the period of 1970 through 1981 and focus on the finances of Books and Arts Associates, a group within Time Inc. which monitored Time Inc.'s minority investments in foreign publishing houses. The majority of documents were created by or sent to Zachary Morfogen, the Managing Director of Books and Arts Associates. Included are newsletters along with printing invoices, strategic plans, budget reports, monthly and weekly operating reports, business objectives, account statements, international investment strategies, accounting policies and procedures, presentations on finances and income, and correspondence. The correspondence discusses social security benefits and payments, strategic plans, budgets, and operating reports.
Arrangement
Arranged reverse chronologically as per the loose original order with undated material at the end.
Historical Note
In 1965, Time Inc. became interested in investing in foreign publishing companies. By October 1966, they had made their first deal and purchased interest in Organizacion Editorial Novaro S.A., a leading Mexican magazine and book publisher. At this same time, Time-Life International executives were meeting with publishers in Germany looking for further investments. Ultimately Time Inc. purchased part of Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag. Two years later, Time Inc. purchased interest in Andre Deutsch Ltd, a British publishing house, and entered a joint venture with Spanish publisher Salvat Editores S.A. to distribute books and records directly by mail.
In 1969 Time Inc. created a new entity to monitory its growing number of foreign investments called Books and Arts Associates (BAA). BAA's 1981-1985 strategic plan defines BAA as an advisory management consulting team. The earliest mention of BAA in Time Inc.'s annual reports states it contained the wholly-owned subsidiaries of the publishing house of Little, Brown and Company, the New York Graphic Society Ltd. (NYGS), "the largest publisher of fine-art reproductions in the world" along with its subsidiary Alva Museum Replicas, Inc., "which has exclusive reproduction rights to hundreds of museum artifacts" as well as the foreign publishing firms in which Time Inc. owned minority interests. Along with overseeing the investments made prior to its creation, BAA also managed investments in the French Editions Robert Laffont and Japanese Shingakusha-Time International as well as the 1978 joint venture Time Inc. entered with Little, Brown in France and Japan that focused on publishing materials in the medical field (Medsi). Zachary Morfogen, formerly an executive in Time Life International and then director of marketing for the Books, Arts, and Recordings Group (precursor to the Books Group), is BAA's managing director,
While BAA was listed as its own department on the Time Inc. department head lists, by 1975 it functioned as a member of the Books Group along with Time-Life Books and the Book-of-the-Month Club, Inc. overseen by group vice president Joan Manley. At this time, BAA no longer oversees Little, Brown and NYGS. The 1981 annual report has no mention of BAA, and a June 29, 1981 memorandum from Manley to Department Heads announces the reassignment of companies overseen by BAA. Managing Director of BAA Europe Hans Bergmans continued handling the European minority holdings, but there is no mention of Bergmans in the department head lists past 1981. An August 7, 1981 memorandum from Denise Crockett to Manley's executive assistant Joan Berk refers to the Books Group as the office of record for BAA. A 1982 staff memo announces Morfogen joining Corporate Public Affairs.
Citations:
Pendergast, Curtis and Geoffrey Colvin. The World of Time Inc.:The Intimate History of a Changing Enterprise 1960-1980 (New York: Atheneum, 1986).
Time Inc. 1980 Annual Report. 1981. http://www.thehistorycenteronline.com/collections/entry/category/annual-reports-time-inc.-temple-eastex, accessed June 2, 2017.