Event Details

End: November 1, 2021
Contact: bancroft-prize@library.columbia.edu
More Info: https://library.columbia.edu/about/awards/bancroft.html

The Bancroft Prizes are awarded annually by Columbia University in the City of New York. Under the terms of the will of the late Fredric Bancroft, provision is made for two annual prizes of equal rank  to be awarded to the authors of distinguished works in either or both of the following categories: American History (including biography) and Diplomacy.

The awards in a given year are for books published in in the previous year. The competition is open to all persons whether connected with Columbia University or not and whether citizens of the United States or any other country. Announcement of the awards will be made in the spring of the prize year.

The word "American" is interpreted to include all the Americas, North, Central, and South; however, the award is confined to works originally written in English or of which there is a published translation in English. Volumes of papers, letters, and speeches of famous Americans, unless edited by the author, are not eligible. Autobiography comes within the terms of the prize, but books reporting on recent personal experiences of Americans, within a limited area both in time and geographically, are not considered eligible.

Previous winners of the Bancroft Prize are eligible for an award in a later year.

We are now accepting submissions for works published in 2021. Works submitted for the competition should be sent to the following address:

Attention: Bancroft Prize Committee, Columbia University
c/o The Office of the University Librarian
517 Butler Library, Mail Code 1101
535 West 114th St.
New York, NY 10027

It is requested that four (4) copies of each text be provided—three for the members of the jury on Award and one for the Libraries of Columbia University. The address should state that the books are for the Bancroft Prize Competition. A letter should accompany the books identifying the nominated books and a contact at the publisher.

The works will preferably be submitted as published, but in no case later than November 1, 2021. However, page-proof copy may be submitted after November 1, provided the work will be published after the date and before December 31, 2021. (Page-proof copy will not be accepted for any work that will have a publication date earlier than November 1.)