University Press officials refused to elaborate on the director's statement, which said in part, "At a minimum, the public has a right to know of any CIA funding connected with a book. The publisher and the author owe this to the public."
The Press earlier identified Safran's editor as Aida Donald, but would not now say whether Donald was the acquisitions editor referred to in the dean's report.
Donald has not returned telephone calls to her office over the past three months.
Despite Safran's letter, members of the Press's Board of Syndics said in October that they were not told of Safran's CIA funding before they approved his book for publication.
The Board of Syndics, a panel of Harvard professors acting as advisers to the Press, reviews manuscripts proposed for publication. The board's endorsement is a prerequisite for publication.
CIA Link Not Known
"When the book was approved, no one at the Press knew that the book had CIA funding. Had that information been available when the Board of syndics considered this book, the whole matter would have received very serious discussion and consideration," Professor of Law Lance M. Liebman, a member of the Board of Syndics, said in October.
Brian Murphy, associate director of operations for the Press and its chief financial officer, concurred at the time.
"We would not want to go ahead and blithely publish a work if there were some highly specialized interests behind it," Murphy said. "I would think we would have wanted to be thoroughly informed."
Safran's book received strong recommendations from outside experts consulted by the Press. It was printed with the Belknap label, a mark of special distinction.
Several officials said they could not recall a previous instance in which the press published a book that had received CIA funding.
In the mid-1970s, a Congressional investigation revealed that the CIA had secretly funded hundreds of books in the United States and abroad in an attempt to counter Soviet propaganda efforts.
Concern about relationships between government intelligence agencies and scholars prompted the University to issue a set of guidelines on the subject in 1977. The guidelines permit professors to do work for the CIA and other intelligence agencies, but require them to report all such arrangements to the University administration.
Other Harvard regulations prohibit scholars from accepting grants for research here when the terms of those grants compromise academic freedom. Rules explicitly prohibit arrangements that cannot be disck losed or that restrict the publication of research results.
Conflicting Opinions
University Press officials offered conflicting opinions as to whether the University's restrictions on sponsored research apply to works published by the Press. Editors at the press and members of the Board of Syndics said that sources of funding are not ordinarily scrutinized.
Rosenthal's statement promising full disclosure appears to resolve any confusion surrounding the Press's policy, however.
Acknowledging a breakdown of the publishing house's own procedures, one top official said Safran continues to share responsibility in the incident.
David Professor of Business Administration Kenneth R. Andrews, chairman of the board of directors of the Press, said last week Safran was at fault for entering the CIA contract.
"That should have been unacceptable to him. It would be preposterous to assume that a scholar should be supervised in this respect," Andrews said. "What is so egregious about it is that in the whole tradition of scholarship you do not conceal facts that can create distrust by people who find them out.