Founded in Vienna by Dr Béla Horovitz, Frederick “Fritz” Ungar, and Ludwig Goldscheider, who named the company after Phaedo of Elis, a pupil of Socrates. Their vision was to create elegantly produced, accessibly priced art books. Today, Phaidon is the leading global publisher in the creative arts with a total of 50 million books sold in 40 languages and with 1,500 titles currently in print.
An exhibition of Phaidon books, entitled “100 Years of Creativity” will present 100 spanning award-winning cover designs, bestsellers, limited editions, and more, from the 1930s through the present day. The exhibition in London at Christie’s runs from October 15-18th.
To mark Phaidon’s 100th anniversary, the publisher has also curated the ultimate collection of 100 best-selling books which includes three horticultural works;
- Flower: Exploring the World in Bloom, contribution by Shane Connolly and introduction by Anna Pavord
- The High Line, James Corner and Diller Scofidio + Renfro
- The Gardener’s Garden: Inspiration Across Continents and Centuries, Edited by Toby Musgrave and introduction by Madison Cox