M. Pollard
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184096
- eISBN:
- 9780191674174
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184096.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter considers the organization of the Dublin book trade in Ireland. It also discovers how its members dealt together, what books were published by them, how these books were published, and ...
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This chapter considers the organization of the Dublin book trade in Ireland. It also discovers how its members dealt together, what books were published by them, how these books were published, and to whom they were sold. In the absence of firm regulation by the Guild, rules that made possible co-existence amongst booksellers appear to have developed through the trial and error of practice until tradition could be quoted as authority. Such rules governed the pressing problems of ownership of ‘copyright’ in reprints, rights in later editions, and rights in original Irish writing.Less
This chapter considers the organization of the Dublin book trade in Ireland. It also discovers how its members dealt together, what books were published by them, how these books were published, and to whom they were sold. In the absence of firm regulation by the Guild, rules that made possible co-existence amongst booksellers appear to have developed through the trial and error of practice until tradition could be quoted as authority. Such rules governed the pressing problems of ownership of ‘copyright’ in reprints, rights in later editions, and rights in original Irish writing.
Helen Smith
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199651580
- eISBN:
- 9780191741654
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199651580.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
Chapter Four moves beyond the London book trades, investigating those women who operated outside London or contested the rights and privileges of the Stationers’ Company. The opening section details ...
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Chapter Four moves beyond the London book trades, investigating those women who operated outside London or contested the rights and privileges of the Stationers’ Company. The opening section details the women who sought and won printing privileges and patents, while the rest of the chapter moves from social location to the particular topographies of the book trades, charting London stationers’ sales networks, the activities of peripatetic saleswomen, and the political dangers of pamphlet-hawking at the beginning of the civil wars. This chapter makes an important contribution to the study of the provincial book trades in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and emphasises the importance of English links to the printing centres of Northern Europe, especially in the dissemination of Catholic books.Less
Chapter Four moves beyond the London book trades, investigating those women who operated outside London or contested the rights and privileges of the Stationers’ Company. The opening section details the women who sought and won printing privileges and patents, while the rest of the chapter moves from social location to the particular topographies of the book trades, charting London stationers’ sales networks, the activities of peripatetic saleswomen, and the political dangers of pamphlet-hawking at the beginning of the civil wars. This chapter makes an important contribution to the study of the provincial book trades in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and emphasises the importance of English links to the printing centres of Northern Europe, especially in the dissemination of Catholic books.
C. Y. Ferdinand
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206521
- eISBN:
- 9780191677199
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206521.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This section concludes that this discussion of the eighteenth-century English newspaper trade, which starts from a close study of the Salisbury Journal and the Hampshire Chronicle, is intended as a ...
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This section concludes that this discussion of the eighteenth-century English newspaper trade, which starts from a close study of the Salisbury Journal and the Hampshire Chronicle, is intended as a contribution to the studies made by James E. Tierney, Jeremy Black, and Cranfield and Wiles to investigate the wider history of the newspaper trade in England. It states that evidence accumulated from reading fifty years' production of the Salisbury Journal has provided a basis for discussion of the place it held in the history not only of the newspaper trade but of the increasingly interdependent book trade. It notes that editorial comment, imprints, and lists of news agencies compiled from the paper itself have helped to re-create the administrative structure of the paper.Less
This section concludes that this discussion of the eighteenth-century English newspaper trade, which starts from a close study of the Salisbury Journal and the Hampshire Chronicle, is intended as a contribution to the studies made by James E. Tierney, Jeremy Black, and Cranfield and Wiles to investigate the wider history of the newspaper trade in England. It states that evidence accumulated from reading fifty years' production of the Salisbury Journal has provided a basis for discussion of the place it held in the history not only of the newspaper trade but of the increasingly interdependent book trade. It notes that editorial comment, imprints, and lists of news agencies compiled from the paper itself have helped to re-create the administrative structure of the paper.
M. Pollard
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184096
- eISBN:
- 9780191674174
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184096.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter discusses the history of bookselling in Ireland before the 17th century. The historian's difficulties are compounded by the paucity of source material, a want that is true of the whole ...
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This chapter discusses the history of bookselling in Ireland before the 17th century. The historian's difficulties are compounded by the paucity of source material, a want that is true of the whole period of 1800. The single printer allowed to operate under the King's Printer's patent in the 17th century obviously could not, and did not, satisfy the country's basic needs, and until well into the 18th century almost all books had to be imported. While it seems likely that general wholesale merchants everywhere dealt in certain classes of books, in Ireland their importance was greater and lasted longer because no lively specialized trade could develop under monopoly. From before 1545 to the end of the 17th century a sizeable portion of the books on sale in Ireland was brought in by general merchants. A rapid expansion of the book trade followed the breaking of the monopoly in the 18th century, and both of these phenomena were to some extent dependent on the growing demand for books that Joseph Ray claimed to exist in 1680. The most ambitious bookselling operation in Ireland in the 17th century was that run by the Stationer's Company of London.Less
This chapter discusses the history of bookselling in Ireland before the 17th century. The historian's difficulties are compounded by the paucity of source material, a want that is true of the whole period of 1800. The single printer allowed to operate under the King's Printer's patent in the 17th century obviously could not, and did not, satisfy the country's basic needs, and until well into the 18th century almost all books had to be imported. While it seems likely that general wholesale merchants everywhere dealt in certain classes of books, in Ireland their importance was greater and lasted longer because no lively specialized trade could develop under monopoly. From before 1545 to the end of the 17th century a sizeable portion of the books on sale in Ireland was brought in by general merchants. A rapid expansion of the book trade followed the breaking of the monopoly in the 18th century, and both of these phenomena were to some extent dependent on the growing demand for books that Joseph Ray claimed to exist in 1680. The most ambitious bookselling operation in Ireland in the 17th century was that run by the Stationer's Company of London.
James Raven
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263266
- eISBN:
- 9780191734854
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263266.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter discusses the expansion of publishing and its role in organising knowledge in late Victorian Britain. The greater capitalisation of the industry during the later eighteenth and in the ...
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This chapter discusses the expansion of publishing and its role in organising knowledge in late Victorian Britain. The greater capitalisation of the industry during the later eighteenth and in the mid and later nineteenth century enabled the expansion of printing and publishing. Book trade profits resulted from the greater diversification of trading practices and financial infrastructure. Prominent publishing houses, like Macmillan, were able to broaden their market appeal to become general trade publishers and dominate the British publishing industry. The chapter also discusses the legislative constraints on publishing and how they erected political and legal barriers to the social extension of knowledge and education during the Victorian period.Less
This chapter discusses the expansion of publishing and its role in organising knowledge in late Victorian Britain. The greater capitalisation of the industry during the later eighteenth and in the mid and later nineteenth century enabled the expansion of printing and publishing. Book trade profits resulted from the greater diversification of trading practices and financial infrastructure. Prominent publishing houses, like Macmillan, were able to broaden their market appeal to become general trade publishers and dominate the British publishing industry. The chapter also discusses the legislative constraints on publishing and how they erected political and legal barriers to the social extension of knowledge and education during the Victorian period.
Thomas F. Bonnell
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199532209
- eISBN:
- 9780191700996
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532209.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature
A publishing phenomenon began in Glasgow in 1765. Uniform pocket editions of the English Poets printed by Robert and Andrew Foulis formed the first link in a chain of literary products that has grown ...
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A publishing phenomenon began in Glasgow in 1765. Uniform pocket editions of the English Poets printed by Robert and Andrew Foulis formed the first link in a chain of literary products that has grown ever since, as we see from series like Penguin Classics and Oxford World Classics. In this book, the author explores the origins of this phenomenon, analysing more than a dozen multi-volume poetry collections that sprang from the British press over the next half century. Why such collections flourished so quickly, who published them, what forms they assumed, how they were marketed and advertised, how they initiated their readers into the rites of mass-market consumerism, and what role they played in the construction of a national literature are all questions central to the study. The collections played out against an epic battle over copyright law, and involved fierce contention for market share in the ‘classics’ among rival publishers. It brought despair to the most powerful of London printers, William Strahan, who prophesied that competition of this nature would ruin bookselling, turning it into ‘the most pitiful, beggarly, precarious, unprofitable, and disreputable Trade in Britain’. Based on work with archival materials, newspapers, handbills, prospectuses, and above all the books themselves, the author's findings shed light on all aspects of the book trade. Valuable bibliographical data is presented regarding every collection, forming an indispensable resource for future work on the history of the English poetry canon.Less
A publishing phenomenon began in Glasgow in 1765. Uniform pocket editions of the English Poets printed by Robert and Andrew Foulis formed the first link in a chain of literary products that has grown ever since, as we see from series like Penguin Classics and Oxford World Classics. In this book, the author explores the origins of this phenomenon, analysing more than a dozen multi-volume poetry collections that sprang from the British press over the next half century. Why such collections flourished so quickly, who published them, what forms they assumed, how they were marketed and advertised, how they initiated their readers into the rites of mass-market consumerism, and what role they played in the construction of a national literature are all questions central to the study. The collections played out against an epic battle over copyright law, and involved fierce contention for market share in the ‘classics’ among rival publishers. It brought despair to the most powerful of London printers, William Strahan, who prophesied that competition of this nature would ruin bookselling, turning it into ‘the most pitiful, beggarly, precarious, unprofitable, and disreputable Trade in Britain’. Based on work with archival materials, newspapers, handbills, prospectuses, and above all the books themselves, the author's findings shed light on all aspects of the book trade. Valuable bibliographical data is presented regarding every collection, forming an indispensable resource for future work on the history of the English poetry canon.
I. G. Philip and Paul Morgan
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199510146
- eISBN:
- 9780191700958
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199510146.003.0014
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
The Bodleian Library, founded and endowed by Sir Thomas Bodley at the opening of the 17th century, was the third library of Oxford University. The first comprised manuscripts bequeathed to the ...
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The Bodleian Library, founded and endowed by Sir Thomas Bodley at the opening of the 17th century, was the third library of Oxford University. The first comprised manuscripts bequeathed to the university early in the 14th century by Thomas Cobham, bishop of Worcester, while the second library disappeared. So when Bodley decided in 1598 to set up his ‘staffe at the library doore in Oxford’ he had no competition, and those to whom he applied for help had no similar calls upon their generosity. Bodley's intention was to create not just a private institutional library for the university, but a public library serving the whole commonwealth of learned men. The 17th century saw the real beginning of university printing and publishing in Oxford, developing slowly and almost in parallel to what occurred in Cambridge. Throughout this period certain occupations including printing, bookselling, and bookbinding were reserved for ‘privileged persons’; as in university towns generally the book trade came under close academic control.Less
The Bodleian Library, founded and endowed by Sir Thomas Bodley at the opening of the 17th century, was the third library of Oxford University. The first comprised manuscripts bequeathed to the university early in the 14th century by Thomas Cobham, bishop of Worcester, while the second library disappeared. So when Bodley decided in 1598 to set up his ‘staffe at the library doore in Oxford’ he had no competition, and those to whom he applied for help had no similar calls upon their generosity. Bodley's intention was to create not just a private institutional library for the university, but a public library serving the whole commonwealth of learned men. The 17th century saw the real beginning of university printing and publishing in Oxford, developing slowly and almost in parallel to what occurred in Cambridge. Throughout this period certain occupations including printing, bookselling, and bookbinding were reserved for ‘privileged persons’; as in university towns generally the book trade came under close academic control.
James Raven
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202370
- eISBN:
- 9780191675300
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202370.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Economic History
This chapter discusses the changes in the book trade during the second half of the 18th century. Literature, like other fashion and leisure wares, was taken up by entrepreneurs with a sharp eye to ...
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This chapter discusses the changes in the book trade during the second half of the 18th century. Literature, like other fashion and leisure wares, was taken up by entrepreneurs with a sharp eye to the market. As with the manufacture of new household goods and consumables, the success of many products of the press was determined by customer identification, metropolitan trend-setting, and the exploitation of a country market. At the same time, the weakening of the share book system increased the risk for all business participants. Although booksellers' associations continued jointly to issue works, fresh vulnerability and rivalries were introduced into the trade.Less
This chapter discusses the changes in the book trade during the second half of the 18th century. Literature, like other fashion and leisure wares, was taken up by entrepreneurs with a sharp eye to the market. As with the manufacture of new household goods and consumables, the success of many products of the press was determined by customer identification, metropolitan trend-setting, and the exploitation of a country market. At the same time, the weakening of the share book system increased the risk for all business participants. Although booksellers' associations continued jointly to issue works, fresh vulnerability and rivalries were introduced into the trade.
H. A. G. Houghton
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199545926
- eISBN:
- 9780191719974
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545926.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
Despite the laborious process of copying by hand, a wide variety of books seems to have been available in the Church in North Africa. The collection at Hippo, supplemented by Augustine's personal ...
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Despite the laborious process of copying by hand, a wide variety of books seems to have been available in the Church in North Africa. The collection at Hippo, supplemented by Augustine's personal library, included Bibles in Latin and Greek and the works of several Church Fathers. Stenographers were used to transcribe sermons and public debates, as well as take down Augustine's theological works as he dictated them. These records give indications of how biblical codices were used for teaching and liturgical purposes.Less
Despite the laborious process of copying by hand, a wide variety of books seems to have been available in the Church in North Africa. The collection at Hippo, supplemented by Augustine's personal library, included Bibles in Latin and Greek and the works of several Church Fathers. Stenographers were used to transcribe sermons and public debates, as well as take down Augustine's theological works as he dictated them. These records give indications of how biblical codices were used for teaching and liturgical purposes.
James Raven
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202370
- eISBN:
- 9780191675300
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202370.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Economic History
This chapter begins with a discussion of the dearth studies on the commercial development of the late 18th-century book trade. Little is known either about literary perceptions of trade and industry ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of the dearth studies on the commercial development of the late 18th-century book trade. Little is known either about literary perceptions of trade and industry during the years of commercial and industrial expansion in the late 18th century, or about the means by which such opinion was established. The poverty of research on the literary response is the more telling because of the changes in the commercial orientation of the book business. It argues that historical appreciation of the new fiction industry of the period was thwarted by both contemporary and modern disdain for an output that undeniably included many formula-written potboilers. Very soon after birth, the mass fiction and popular literature trade was denounced from journal and pulpit as seditious and immoral and as debasing civilized society. The chapter also presents publishing trends in the late 18th century.Less
This chapter begins with a discussion of the dearth studies on the commercial development of the late 18th-century book trade. Little is known either about literary perceptions of trade and industry during the years of commercial and industrial expansion in the late 18th century, or about the means by which such opinion was established. The poverty of research on the literary response is the more telling because of the changes in the commercial orientation of the book business. It argues that historical appreciation of the new fiction industry of the period was thwarted by both contemporary and modern disdain for an output that undeniably included many formula-written potboilers. Very soon after birth, the mass fiction and popular literature trade was denounced from journal and pulpit as seditious and immoral and as debasing civilized society. The chapter also presents publishing trends in the late 18th century.
Kathleen Lynch
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199643936
- eISBN:
- 9780191738876
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199643936.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
Protestant Autobiography takes it as axiomatic that autobiography is an act, not a form. The introduction reorients scholarly examinations of the social acts of first-person ...
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Protestant Autobiography takes it as axiomatic that autobiography is an act, not a form. The introduction reorients scholarly examinations of the social acts of first-person articulations of religious experience in two ways: towards an Atlantic worldview and towards reception and its attendant acts of validation, endorsement, and the building of communal identities, all aspects of the reading of examinations of the self for signs of election. The book’s subject is not conversion between Catholicism and Protestantism or from Christian to Islam, but conversion in what might seem to be a narrow definition—within Protestantism, from a conventional practice of religion to experiential religion. A case study of Richard Norwood’s Confessions anchors a synchronic view of the diaspora of religious dissent and the regulations of religion and the book trade.Less
Protestant Autobiography takes it as axiomatic that autobiography is an act, not a form. The introduction reorients scholarly examinations of the social acts of first-person articulations of religious experience in two ways: towards an Atlantic worldview and towards reception and its attendant acts of validation, endorsement, and the building of communal identities, all aspects of the reading of examinations of the self for signs of election. The book’s subject is not conversion between Catholicism and Protestantism or from Christian to Islam, but conversion in what might seem to be a narrow definition—within Protestantism, from a conventional practice of religion to experiential religion. A case study of Richard Norwood’s Confessions anchors a synchronic view of the diaspora of religious dissent and the regulations of religion and the book trade.
Graham Rees and Maria Wakely
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199576319
- eISBN:
- 9780191722233
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199576319.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter begins with a discussion of the continuing disputes between Barker and Norton. It then details John Bill's 1619 petition and his later fortunes. It shows that Norton lost his grip on the ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of the continuing disputes between Barker and Norton. It then details John Bill's 1619 petition and his later fortunes. It shows that Norton lost his grip on the King's Printing House (KPH) with the decree of 1629, which found in favour of Robert Barker and left Norton in prison in 1630 and possibly beyond. The latter died in 1635, but Robert Barker continued as King's Printer even after being committed to prison for debt in the same year. He died there in 1645.Less
This chapter begins with a discussion of the continuing disputes between Barker and Norton. It then details John Bill's 1619 petition and his later fortunes. It shows that Norton lost his grip on the King's Printing House (KPH) with the decree of 1629, which found in favour of Robert Barker and left Norton in prison in 1630 and possibly beyond. The latter died in 1635, but Robert Barker continued as King's Printer even after being committed to prison for debt in the same year. He died there in 1645.
Paula McDowell
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198183952
- eISBN:
- 9780191674143
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198183952.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature, 18th-century Literature
Part I surveys the politically dissident activities of women in the book trade, discussing women printers, publishers, ballad-singers, hawkers, and others. In this period between the decline of ...
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Part I surveys the politically dissident activities of women in the book trade, discussing women printers, publishers, ballad-singers, hawkers, and others. In this period between the decline of effective press regulations in the mid-seventeenth century and the consolidation of commercial controls and capital in the mid-eighteenth century, women workers seized the opportunity to support themselves by means of a newly energized press they helped create. While providing information regarding women's commercial dealings and institutional status, the primary task of Part I is to investigate print as a new mode of association for women and as a vehicle for their political expression. On the basis of examination of fifty years of State Papers pertaining to press prosecutions, this section argues that women printworkers, sometimes themselves illiterate, played a significant role in the production and dissemination of political literature, and that they were not merely the distributors of other people's political ideas.Less
Part I surveys the politically dissident activities of women in the book trade, discussing women printers, publishers, ballad-singers, hawkers, and others. In this period between the decline of effective press regulations in the mid-seventeenth century and the consolidation of commercial controls and capital in the mid-eighteenth century, women workers seized the opportunity to support themselves by means of a newly energized press they helped create. While providing information regarding women's commercial dealings and institutional status, the primary task of Part I is to investigate print as a new mode of association for women and as a vehicle for their political expression. On the basis of examination of fifty years of State Papers pertaining to press prosecutions, this section argues that women printworkers, sometimes themselves illiterate, played a significant role in the production and dissemination of political literature, and that they were not merely the distributors of other people's political ideas.
C. Y. Ferdinand
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206521
- eISBN:
- 9780191677199
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206521.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This is a study of the English provincial newspaper and book trades in the eighteenth century. The book uses the first thoroughgoing study of the Salisbury Journal and its competitors to reveal how ...
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This is a study of the English provincial newspaper and book trades in the eighteenth century. The book uses the first thoroughgoing study of the Salisbury Journal and its competitors to reveal how country newspapers worked within and influenced the developing information systems of a region. The detailed revelations of a community's social, economic, literary, and cultural interests extend well beyond Salisbury to the surrounding counties and to London. A hitherto hidden commercial infrastructure shows the interdependent relationship between the writers and makers of newspapers, the principal members of the London book trade, and the new market for the printed word. Behind these news networks was the entrepreneurial spirit of Benjamin Collins, a figure of national importance, who set up Salisbury's first bank, established newspapers in London and the provinces, wrote children's books with John Newbery, and whose publishing interests brought him into contact with the literary and commercial life of London.Less
This is a study of the English provincial newspaper and book trades in the eighteenth century. The book uses the first thoroughgoing study of the Salisbury Journal and its competitors to reveal how country newspapers worked within and influenced the developing information systems of a region. The detailed revelations of a community's social, economic, literary, and cultural interests extend well beyond Salisbury to the surrounding counties and to London. A hitherto hidden commercial infrastructure shows the interdependent relationship between the writers and makers of newspapers, the principal members of the London book trade, and the new market for the printed word. Behind these news networks was the entrepreneurial spirit of Benjamin Collins, a figure of national importance, who set up Salisbury's first bank, established newspapers in London and the provinces, wrote children's books with John Newbery, and whose publishing interests brought him into contact with the literary and commercial life of London.
Paula McDowell
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198183952
- eISBN:
- 9780191674143
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198183952.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature, 18th-century Literature
The period 1678–1730 was a decisive one in Western political history and in the history of the British press. Changing conditions for political expression and an expanding book trade enabled ...
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The period 1678–1730 was a decisive one in Western political history and in the history of the British press. Changing conditions for political expression and an expanding book trade enabled unprecedented opportunities for political activity. This book argues that women already at work in the London book trade were among the first to seize those new opportunities for public political expression. Synthesizing areas of scholarly inquiry previously regarded as separate, and offering a new model for the study of the literary marketplace, it examines not only women writers, but also women printers, booksellers, ballad-singers, hawkers, and other producers and distributors of printed texts. Part I examines the political activity of women workers in the London book trdes, Part II focuses on the largest category of women's writing in this period (religious and religio-political works), and Part III examines in depth one woman's strategies as a political writer (Delarivier Manley). Original in its sources and in the claims it makes for the nature, extent, and complexities of women's participation in print culture and public politics, this book provides new information about middling and lower-class women's political and literary lives, and shows that these women were not merely the passive distributors of other people's political ideas. The book's central argument is that women of the widest possible variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and religiopolitical allegiances played so prominent a role in the production and transmission of political ideas through print as to belie claims that women had no place in public life.Less
The period 1678–1730 was a decisive one in Western political history and in the history of the British press. Changing conditions for political expression and an expanding book trade enabled unprecedented opportunities for political activity. This book argues that women already at work in the London book trade were among the first to seize those new opportunities for public political expression. Synthesizing areas of scholarly inquiry previously regarded as separate, and offering a new model for the study of the literary marketplace, it examines not only women writers, but also women printers, booksellers, ballad-singers, hawkers, and other producers and distributors of printed texts. Part I examines the political activity of women workers in the London book trdes, Part II focuses on the largest category of women's writing in this period (religious and religio-political works), and Part III examines in depth one woman's strategies as a political writer (Delarivier Manley). Original in its sources and in the claims it makes for the nature, extent, and complexities of women's participation in print culture and public politics, this book provides new information about middling and lower-class women's political and literary lives, and shows that these women were not merely the passive distributors of other people's political ideas. The book's central argument is that women of the widest possible variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and religiopolitical allegiances played so prominent a role in the production and transmission of political ideas through print as to belie claims that women had no place in public life.
James Raven
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202370
- eISBN:
- 9780191675300
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202370.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Economic History
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of sceptical and hostile views towards new-rich tradesmen during the late 18th century. From the 1760s, treatises explaining the decline of empires ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of sceptical and hostile views towards new-rich tradesmen during the late 18th century. From the 1760s, treatises explaining the decline of empires drew new parallels to the British condition and warned of the dangers that upstart wealth might pose to manners, morality, and national vigour. Tracts and sermons pointed to the ruinous consequences of misused trading fortunes. Publications about India and Anglo-Indian wealth promoted fierce attacks on nouveaux riches nabobs. The chapter then considers how and why tradesmen, manufacturers, and the newly-wealthy came under such prolific literary attack in the second half of the 18th century. It surveys both media and message, investigating the changing context and the changing vocabulary and imagery of debate in literature ranging from novels and periodical essays to courtesy books and popular manuals. The balance of research is weighted heavily towards the reconstruction of a body of imaginative prose literature as published and distributed by the contemporary book trade and providing a basis for checking against bias and selectivity in summarizing popular literary representations.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of sceptical and hostile views towards new-rich tradesmen during the late 18th century. From the 1760s, treatises explaining the decline of empires drew new parallels to the British condition and warned of the dangers that upstart wealth might pose to manners, morality, and national vigour. Tracts and sermons pointed to the ruinous consequences of misused trading fortunes. Publications about India and Anglo-Indian wealth promoted fierce attacks on nouveaux riches nabobs. The chapter then considers how and why tradesmen, manufacturers, and the newly-wealthy came under such prolific literary attack in the second half of the 18th century. It surveys both media and message, investigating the changing context and the changing vocabulary and imagery of debate in literature ranging from novels and periodical essays to courtesy books and popular manuals. The balance of research is weighted heavily towards the reconstruction of a body of imaginative prose literature as published and distributed by the contemporary book trade and providing a basis for checking against bias and selectivity in summarizing popular literary representations.
Harry Y. Gamble
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199566365
- eISBN:
- 9780191740985
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199566365.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Although there was a commercial trade in books in the Roman imperial period, it was not the principal means by which books were published and disseminated in the Roman Empire. The traditional and ...
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Although there was a commercial trade in books in the Roman imperial period, it was not the principal means by which books were published and disseminated in the Roman Empire. The traditional and preferred method of publication involved several stages: an author made his work available to a small group of friends, either by oral presentation or by the limited distribution of a provisional text, revised the work in light of their responses, and then prepared a final fair text which was either given in a few copies to several friends, or dedicated to a patron, or placed in a library or (less commonly) with a book dealer. Once released by its author, a text began to circulate as others learnt of the work, wished to possess it, gained access to a manuscript and made a copy. Texts were normally disseminated through private social networks constituted by friendship or by shared literary, intellectual, or professional interests. The copying and circulation of early Christian texts followed a similar pattern, being transmitted privately along networks of relationships among Christian communities.Less
Although there was a commercial trade in books in the Roman imperial period, it was not the principal means by which books were published and disseminated in the Roman Empire. The traditional and preferred method of publication involved several stages: an author made his work available to a small group of friends, either by oral presentation or by the limited distribution of a provisional text, revised the work in light of their responses, and then prepared a final fair text which was either given in a few copies to several friends, or dedicated to a patron, or placed in a library or (less commonly) with a book dealer. Once released by its author, a text began to circulate as others learnt of the work, wished to possess it, gained access to a manuscript and made a copy. Texts were normally disseminated through private social networks constituted by friendship or by shared literary, intellectual, or professional interests. The copying and circulation of early Christian texts followed a similar pattern, being transmitted privately along networks of relationships among Christian communities.
Julie Stone Peters
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199262168
- eISBN:
- 9780191698811
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199262168.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
This chapter describes the regular publication of drama in conjunction with performance, the interactions of dramatists with the increasingly sophisticated book trade, and the magisterial editions ...
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This chapter describes the regular publication of drama in conjunction with performance, the interactions of dramatists with the increasingly sophisticated book trade, and the magisterial editions and rough quartos of the high era of dramatic publication.Less
This chapter describes the regular publication of drama in conjunction with performance, the interactions of dramatists with the increasingly sophisticated book trade, and the magisterial editions and rough quartos of the high era of dramatic publication.
HELEN FRONIUS
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199210923
- eISBN:
- 9780191705793
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199210923.003.04
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature, European Literature
This chapter focuses on the reading public and the literary market in Germany as a whole during the 18th century. Changes in the book trade are examined with regard to the implications for women ...
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This chapter focuses on the reading public and the literary market in Germany as a whole during the 18th century. Changes in the book trade are examined with regard to the implications for women writers. The market situation is generally interpreted as favourable to women writers at this time of expansion and diversification, as shown by the fact that the rise in the numbers of women writers is parallel to the rise in the number of authors overall. Women's apparent ability to seize these opportunities is explained by an examination of their correspondence with publishers. The letters also demonstrate the women's deliberate use of normative gender discourse: women's putative gender characteristics appear not to be internalised, but deployed for strategic purposes.Less
This chapter focuses on the reading public and the literary market in Germany as a whole during the 18th century. Changes in the book trade are examined with regard to the implications for women writers. The market situation is generally interpreted as favourable to women writers at this time of expansion and diversification, as shown by the fact that the rise in the numbers of women writers is parallel to the rise in the number of authors overall. Women's apparent ability to seize these opportunities is explained by an examination of their correspondence with publishers. The letters also demonstrate the women's deliberate use of normative gender discourse: women's putative gender characteristics appear not to be internalised, but deployed for strategic purposes.
Paul Baines and Pat Rogers
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199278985
- eISBN:
- 9780191700002
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278985.003.0017
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature
This chapter discusses Curll's contributions to the development of the book trade in England. It notes that Curll ensured that books and authors got talked about. It details that both good and bad ...
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This chapter discusses Curll's contributions to the development of the book trade in England. It notes that Curll ensured that books and authors got talked about. It details that both good and bad actions of Curll certainly brought him to public attention, and presumably helped the higher quality books to sell. It explains that for Curll, all literary works are the same, that they are all text to be printed and promoted. This chapter also points out that no one could quite replicate Curll's career.Less
This chapter discusses Curll's contributions to the development of the book trade in England. It notes that Curll ensured that books and authors got talked about. It details that both good and bad actions of Curll certainly brought him to public attention, and presumably helped the higher quality books to sell. It explains that for Curll, all literary works are the same, that they are all text to be printed and promoted. This chapter also points out that no one could quite replicate Curll's career.
