L'Herne

L'Herne was established in France in 1963 by Dominique de Roux. From its beginnings, the publishing house developed around substantial journals and book-length dossiers dedicated to notable figures in literature, philosophy, poetry, religious thought, and intellectual history. The format that became most closely associated with the house was the Cahiers de L'Herne: each volume assembles contributions from multiple writers and scholars, often combining critical interpretation with correspondence, recollections, testimony, archival material, and texts that are unpublished or difficult to obtain elsewhere. The early catalogue used this format to examine figures including Jorge Luis Borges, Witold Gombrowicz, Louis Massignon, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Thomas Mann, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Friedrich Hölderlin, Henry Corbin, and Emmanuel Levinas. These books helped distinguish L'Herne from a conventional literary imprint. They were designed as collective intellectual portraits and reference works, giving readers access not only to a subject's published reputation but also to the debates, documents, and personal memories surrounding the subject. Around 2000, the house's focus expanded toward a wider range of philosophers, critics, artists, and contemporary novelists. Its later subjects included Sigmund Freud, Albert Camus, Pablo Picasso, Paul Ricoeur, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Carlos Fuentes, Noam Chomsky, Colette, Mario Vargas Llosa, Patrick Modiano, Simone de Beauvoir, Joseph Conrad, Joseph Roth, and Michel Houellebecq. L'Herne's work in this period retained the dossier model while extending it to modern intellectual and cultural figures. The publisher states or is described as having worked with more than four thousand contributors, including writers, academics, translators, and other specialists from around the world. The catalogue developed additional collections in parallel. Les Carnets de L'Herne opened in 2002 and was designed for contemporary and classical texts, particularly rare, unknown, unpublished, or recovered works. The collection has included authors such as Noam Chomsky, Augustine of Hippo, Simone de Beauvoir, and Françoise Sagan. Essais provides a space for literary and intellectual reflections on current issues. Cave Canem serves as a platform for dissident and protest writing, including books associated with Garry Kasparov, Noam Chomsky, and the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. L'Herne also entered a scholarly partnership with the Collège de France through the Cahiers d'Anthropologie Sociale. Published under the intellectual association of Claude Lévi-Strauss, Philippe Descola, and Françoise Héritier, the series presents work connected with the Collège de France's Laboratory of Social Anthropology and addresses major questions through anthropological methods. Romans et Écrits broadens the list into fiction and literary works by French and international authors, including Walter Benjamin, Marguerite Duras, Elizabeth Gaskell, Anthony Trollope, Colette, Franz Hessel, and José María Arguedas. The house is located near the Institut de France in Paris and is directed by Laurence Tacou. Its continuing identity rests on independent publishing, intensive editorial preparation, international intellectual collaboration, and books intended to remain useful as literary and scholarly reference points rather than short-lived commercial releases.

• 2002

  Les Carnets de L'Herne launches

  [1]L'Herneen.wikipedia.org

  The new collection begins publishing contemporary and classical texts, with an emphasis on rare, unknown, unpublished, or recovered works.

• 2000

  Catalogue broadens toward modern intellectual and cultural figures

  [1]L'Herneen.wikipedia.org

  The house increasingly publishes dossiers on philosophers, critics, artists, and contemporary novelists in addition to established literary and philosophical subjects.

• 1963

  L'Herne is founded

  [1]L'Herneen.wikipedia.org

  Dominique de Roux establishes the independent French publishing house.

An independent, research-led French publisher specializing in authoritative collective dossiers, literary archives, critical essays, and intellectually ambitious books on major cultural and political subjects.

• Critical monograph series

  Cahiers de L'Herne

  L'Herne's signature collection consists of extensive collective dossiers on major writers, philosophers, artists, and intellectuals. Volumes bring together scholarly essays, personal testimony, memories, correspondence, archival documents, and sometimes unpublished material. The series has covered figures from both the classical canon and contemporary culture, including Borges, Dostoyevsky, Levinas, Freud, Camus, Picasso, Lévi-Strauss, Beauvoir, and Houellebecq.

• Literary text collection · 2002

  Les Carnets de L'Herne

  Launched in 2002, Les Carnets de L'Herne publishes contemporary and classical writing, with particular attention to rare, overlooked, unpublished, or recovered texts. The collection has featured authors and thinkers including Noam Chomsky, Augustine of Hippo, Simone de Beauvoir, and Françoise Sagan.

• Essays

  Essais

  Essais is an editorial collection for writers' commentary, reflections, and analysis of contemporary issues. It extends L'Herne's intellectual publishing beyond subject-centered dossiers into standalone critical and interpretive works.

• Political and dissident writing

  Cave Canem

  Cave Canem provides a publishing forum for dissidents, protesters, and political critics. Its catalogue has included Garry Kasparov's criticism of abuses by the Russian regime, Noam Chomsky's writing on the Occupy movement, and Justice for Palestine! associated with the Russell Tribunal on Palestine.

• Anthropology and social science

  Cahiers d'Anthropologie Sociale

  Published in partnership with the Collège de France, this collection presents research connected with the Laboratory of Social Anthropology. Associated with Claude Lévi-Strauss, Philippe Descola, and Françoise Héritier, the series uses anthropological perspectives to examine major social and contemporary questions.

• Fiction and literary writing

  Romans et Écrits

  Romans et Écrits gathers French and international fiction and literary works, bringing contemporary and classical authors into the wider L'Herne catalogue. Associated names include Walter Benjamin, Marguerite Duras, Elizabeth Gaskell, Anthony Trollope, Colette, Franz Hessel, and José María Arguedas.

1. 1L'Herneen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Éditions de L'Herneeditionsdelherne.com