During the course of the nineteenth century, the British publishing industry was transformed as the commercial, technological and legal structures underpinning the production and distribution of books and periodicals changed rapidly. The period has long been viewed as having witnessed the birth of a mass reading public as educational reforms, revolutions in transport and communications, as well as the introduction of mechanised processes of production, increased the supply of printed matter and the demand for reading material. Books and periodicals became cheaper and the market for them increasingly international. New retail outlets emerged, and library provision of various kinds expanded. At the same time, changes in copyright legislation and the emerging professionalisation of authorship changed the way the publishing industry worked with the authors and other players in the book trade. This four-volume collection brings together contemporary source material that charts the nature, timing and impact of these changes, and explores some of the key contexts and debates of the period. Each volume will present a documentary account of changes in the publishing industry from four distinct perspectives: production, commercial and business structures, legal structures, and readers and markets. This title will be of great interest to students and scholars of history and literature.

• Sources that have not previously been published or brought together, and which are difficult to access outside of special collections or copyright libraries, has been included alongside other core material.

This volume assembles documents that illustrate the changing structure of the publishing industry in the period and its intersections with other branches of the book trade. It charts the increasing separation of the functions of printing, publishing and bookselling in the production and distribution of books, and the emergence of new economic models of publishing. For most of the period the book trade operated on a shortage of capital, depending upon fragile networks of credit and debt which could lead, as in the financial crisis of 1826-7, to the collapse of many businesses. The volume documents how the structures of the industry impacted upon the pricing structure of books and periodicals and the slow emergence of a mass-market for print. Trade practices of discounting and underselling were a topic of intense debate throughout the period in both trade and general periodicals. The volume focuses on key moments such as the controversy over free trade in the 1840s and 1850s, the formation of trade associations in the 1890s, and the debates over price protection which led to the formation of the Net Book Agreement in 1900, successfully tested in the ‘Times Book War’ of 1906-8. The volume also illustrates the shifting geographies of the trade: the increasing dominance of London but the continued importance of printing and publishing in Scotland and Ireland (Edinburgh and Dublin in particular) and developments in provincial areas of Britain. Documents include material drawn from contemporary books; articles and correspondence in contemporary newspapers and periodicals such as the Times, the Westminster Review and Fraser’s Magazine; articles published in trade journals such as the Publishers’ Circular and the Bookseller; documents produced by trade organisations; and material from the W.H. Smith archive.

This volume brings together documents that illustrate the changing relations between authors and publishers in the period, and the impact of copyright reform and debates over intellectual property on markets and publishing practices. The enormous expansion in the scale and variety of the marketplace for print after 1815 provided new opportunities for authors and prompted debates over intellectual property and the working relations between authors and publishers. The volume documents the impact of these changes on the publishing industry and its markets, focusing on key moments such as the emergence of the professional literary agent in the late 1870s and the formation of the Incorporated Society of Authors in 1883. It documents in detail key source material related to copyright and intellectual property, which were major battle grounds affecting nineteenth-century textual circulation, author-publisher relations, financial sustainability, competitiveness in international markets and industrial relations. The British publishing industry’s attempts to control piracy and unrestricted circulation of their titles in the US and elsewhere found expression in a number of pressure campaigns, formal government commissions, legal acts, and contributions to public debate through journal articles, pamphlets, speeches and newspaper accounts. The volume illustrates key moments captured in contemporary documents including the Copyright Acts of 1814, 1842, 1844, 1886, 1906 and 1911, Parliamentary Royal Commission sessions from 1878 and 1899; articles and reports from contemporary newspaper and periodical sources; official publications of the Society of Authors; and extracts from contemporary books on authorship, including autobiographies.

This volume documents how the publishing industry responded to and helped to shape changes in readership and reading markets in the period, tracing the impact of broad social and cultural changes in, for example, transport and communication, and education and literacy. Improvements in transport and postal and communication networks dramatically affected the production, distribution and retail of books and periodicals, establishing new modes of acquisition and consumption of texts. The volume documents in particular the impact of railway expansion and the spread of railway bookstalls and increased demand for cheaper books. The expansion of spaces and outlets through which published texts could be circulated also occupied a great deal of commentary. The rise of the circulating library, the development of commercial and free public libraries, and the implementation of the Education Acts of 1870 and 1871, required publishers to direct attention to new markets and demands. Such demands created pressure to adopt new patterns of publishing formats, prices and genre categories: it sparked a revolution in serial and part publication, a growth of cheap series publishing at the end of the period, and shifts in the demand for key subject areas such as religion, educational textbooks, information publishing, and children’s books. New pressures of censorship also arose as educational reforms provoked anxieties over the spread of cheap ‘pernicious’ literature. The volume illustrates key moments in these developments through documentary material drawn from contemporary books, newspapers and periodicals; library and bookseller records; and government publications and reports.

Since the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century, books and print culture have been central to the shaping of culture and society. "The Book History Reader "is the first comprehensive volume to bring together a variety of work - much of which is now out of print or impossible to access - examining key aspects of book history. International in scope and interdisciplinary in nature, book history studies is a rapidly growing subject which analyses books and print as cultural artefacts. "The Book History Reader "is an essential collection of writings examining different aspects of the history of books and print culture: the development of the book, the move from spoken word to written texts, the commodification of books and authors and the power and profile of readers. The second edition features new articles covering issues of gender, material culture and bibliographical matters and a new section on the future of the book in the electronic age. Arranged in thematic sections and featuring a general introduction to the Reader as well as an introduction to each section, the editors illustrate how book history studies have developed a broad approach which incorporates social and cultural considerations governing the production, dissemination and reception of print and texts. This pioneering book will be a vital resource for all those involved in publishing studies, library studies, book history and also those studying English literature, cultural studies, sociology and history.

This second edition of An Introduction to Book History provides a comprehensive critical introduction to the development of the book and print culture. Each fully revised and updated chapter contains new material and covers recent developments in the field, including: The Postcolonial Book Censorship by states and religions Social History, and the recognition of underrepresentation of its value to book history studies Contemporary publishing Each section begins with a summary of the chapter's aims and contents, followed by a detailed discussion of the relevant issues, concluding with a summary of the chapter and points to ponder. Sections include: the history of the book orality to Literacy literacy to printing authors, authorship and authority printers, booksellers, publishers, agents readers and reading the future of the book. An Introduction to Book History is an ideal introduction to this exciting field of study, and is designed as a companion text to The Book History Reader.

An Introduction to Book History provides a comprehensive critical introduction to the development of the book and print culture.

David Finkelstein and Alistair McCleery chart the move from spoken word to written texts, the coming of print, the book as commodity, the power and profile of readers, and the future of the book in the electronic age.

Each section begins with a summary of the chapter 's aims and contents, followed by a detailed discussion of the relevant issues, concluding with a summary of the chapter and suggestions for further reading.

Sections include:

• the history of the book
• orality to Literacy
• literacy to printing
• authors, authorship and authority
• printers, booksellers, publishers, agents
• readers and reading
• the future of the book.

An Introduction to Book History is an ideal introduction to this exciting field of study, and is designed as a companion text to The Book History Reader.

A thorough account of newspaper and periodical press history in Britain and Ireland from 1800-1900 Provides a comprehensive history of the British and Irish Press from 1800-1900, reflected upon in 60 substantive chapters and focused case studies Sets out to capture the cross-regional and transnational dimension of press history in nineteenth-century Britain and Ireland Offers unique and important reassessments of nineteenth-century British and Irish press and periodical media within social, cultural, technological, economic and historical contexts This is a unique collection of essays examining nineteenth-century British and Irish newspaper and periodical history during a key period of change and development. It covers an important point of expansion in periodical and press history across the four nations of Great Britain (England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales), concentrating on cross-border and transnational comparisons and contrasts in nineteenth-century print communication. Designed to provide readers with a clear understanding of the current state of research in the field, in addition to an extensive introduction, it includes forty newly commissioned chapters and case studies exploring a full range of press activity and press genres during this intense period of change. Along with keystone chapters on the economics of the press and periodicals, production processes, readership and distribution networks, and legal frameworks under which the press operated, the book examines a wide range of areas from religious, literary, political and medical press genres to analyses of overseas and emigre press and emerging developments in children's and women's press.

Since the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century, books and print culture have been central to the shaping of culture and society. The Book History Reader is the first comprehensive volume to bring together a variety of work - much of which is now out of print or impossible to access - examining key aspects of book history. International in scope and interdisciplinary in nature, book history studies is a rapidly growing subject which analyses books and print as cultural artefacts. The Book History Reader is an essential collection of writings examining different aspects of the history of books and print culture: the development of the book, the move from spoken word to written texts, the commodification of books and authors and the power and profile of readers. The second edition features new articles covering issues of gender, material culture and bibliographical matters and a new section on the future of the book in the electronic age. Arranged in thematic sections and featuring a general introduction to the Reader as well as an introduction to each section, the editors illustrate how book history studies have developed a broad approach which incorporates social and cultural considerations governing the production, dissemination and reception of print and texts. This pioneering book will be a vital resource for all those involved in publishing studies, library studies, book history and also those studying English literature, cultural studies, sociology and history.

Whether in the creation of early manuscripts, in the formation of libraries, through fine printing, or the development of mass media, Scotland's contributions to the history of the book, both within the nation and beyond its boundaries, have been remarkable.
Published in four volumes, The Edinburgh History of the Book in Scotland brings together the work of leading scholars in order to investigate the history of the Scottish book from earliest times to the present.
The Edinburgh History of the Book in Scotland
Volume 4: Professionalism and Diversity 1880-2000
Edited by David Finkelstein and Alistair McCleery
'Much more than just an account of how books were physically produced in and commercially distributed from Scotland, this volume explains the interaction of Scottish writers with their publishers and the changing media environment in which both publishers and writers have had to operate. The broad scope of the publishing economy presented in each chapter is counterpointed by the fine detail of individual struggles to surmount the challenges of publishing in a country moving from the centre to the margins of a global industry. In fascinating detail, volume 4 of The Edinburgh History of the Book recounts the transformation in Scotland's publishing and literary fortunes from 1880 to 2000.' - Cairns Craig, Director of the AHRC Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen
'Volume Four of The Edinburgh History of the Book in Scotland presents a deeply researched and inclusive account of Scottish publishing, reading, and writing through a period that saw major shifts in the country's role in the international world of print. Lucidly writtenand theoretically astute, its overview essays are balanced by engaging studies of specific features ranging from paper mills to Harry Potter. The authors and editors are to be congratulated for this foundational contribution to the cultural history of Scotland and to book history worldwide.' - Carole Gerson, Simon Fraser University, editor of volume 3 of History of the Book in Canada
In this volume a range of distinguished contributors provide an original analysis of the book in Scotland during a period that has been until now greatly under-researched and little understood.
The issues covered by this volume include the professionalisation of publishing, its scale, technological developments, the role of the state, including the library service, the institutional structure of the book in Scotland, industrial relations, union activity and organisation, women and the Scottish book, and the economics of publishing. Separate chapters cover Scottish publishing and literary culture, publishing genres, the art of print culture, distribution, and authors and readers. The volume also includes an innovative use of illustrative case studies.

Few artworks have been the subject of more extensive modern interpretation than Melencolia I by renowned artist, mathematician, and scientist Albrecht Durer (1514). And yet, did each of these art experts and historians miss a secret manifesto that Durer included within the engraving? This is the first work to decrypt secrets within Melencolia I based not on guesswork, but Durer's own writings, other subliminal artists that inspired him (i.e., Leonardo da Vinci), the Jewish and Christian Bibles, and books that inspired Durer (De Occulta Philosophia and the Hieorglyphica). To read the covert message of Melencolia I is to understand that Durer was a humanist in his interests in mathematics, science, poetry, and antiquity. This book recognizes his unparalleled power with the burin, his mathematical skill in perspective, his dedication to precise language, and his acute observation of nature. Melencolia I may also be one of the most controversial (and at the time most criminal) pieces of art as it hid Durer's disdain for the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Kaiser, and the Holy Roman Empire from the general public for centuries. This book closely ties the origins of philosophy (science) and the work of a Renaissance master together, and will be of interest for anyone who loves scientific history, art interpretation, and secret manifestos.

Few artworks have been the subject of more extensive modern interpretation than Melencolia I by renowned artist, mathematician, and scientist Albrecht Durer (1514). And yet, did each of these art experts and historians miss a secret manifesto that Durer included within the engraving? This is the first work to decrypt secrets within Melencolia I based not on guesswork, but Durer's own writings, other subliminal artists that inspired him (i.e., Leonardo da Vinci), the Jewish and Christian Bibles, and books that inspired Durer (De Occulta Philosophia and the Hieorglyphica). To read the covert message of Melencolia I is to understand that Durer was a humanist in his interests in mathematics, science, poetry, and antiquity. This book recognizes his unparalleled power with the burin, his mathematical skill in perspective, his dedication to precise language, and his acute observation of nature. Melencolia I may also be one of the most controversial (and at the time most criminal) pieces of art as it hid Durer's disdain for the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Kaiser, and the Holy Roman Empire from the general public for centuries. This book closely ties the origins of philosophy (science) and the work of a Renaissance master together, and will be of interest for anyone who loves scientific history, art interpretation, and secret manifestos.

This book is both a celebration of the life and career of the eminent literary scholar, critic, and journalist John Sutherland and an extension of Sutherland's work in various fields, including nineteenth- and twentieth-century Anglo-American literature, the publishing industry, and its impact upon creativity and literary puzzles. With contributions from over twenty-five distinguished critics, literary journalists and scholars, this book goes beyond merely describing Sutherland's work. The essayists pay homage to Sutherland while also staking their own critical/scholarly claims. From investigating the publishing dimension, Victorians major and minor, the complexities of Dickens and George Eliot, the "archeology" of Pride and Prejudice to examining the implications of Shakespearean souvenirs, literary puzzles, and Non-Victorians, the essays offer fresh dimensions to Sutherland's rich career as a professor, critic, and journalist.

The Scottish publishing firm of William Blackwood & Sons, founded in 1804, was a major force in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British literary history, publishing a diverse group of important authors--including George Eliot, John Galt, Thomas de Quincey, Margaret Oliphant, Anthony Trollope, Joseph Conrad, and John Buchan, among many others--in book form and in its monthly Blackwood's Magazine. In The House of Blackwood, David Finkelstein exposes for the first time the successes and failures of this onetime publishing powerhouse.

Finkelstein begins with a general history of the Blackwood firm from 1804 to 1920, attending to family dynamics over several generations, to their molding of a particular political and national culture, to the shaping of a Blackwood's audience, and to the multiple causes for the firm's decline in the decades before World War I. He then uses six case studies of authors--Conrad, Oliphant, John Hanning Speke, George Tompkyns Chesney, Charles Reade, and E. M. Forster--and their relationships with the publishing house. He mines the voluminous correspondence of the firm with its authors and, eventually, with the authors' agents. The value of the archive Finkelstein studies is its completeness, the depth of the ledger material (particularly interesting given that the Blackwoods did much of their own printing), and the extraordinary longevity of the firm. A key value of Finkelstein's account is his attention to the author/publisher/reader circuit that Robert Darnton emphasizes as the central focus of book history.

The declaration of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949 presented American foreign policy officials with two dilemmas: how to deal with the communist government on the mainland and what to do about Chiang Kai-shek’s holdout Nationalist regime on Taiwan. By early 1950 these questions were pressing hard upon U.S. civilian and military planners and policy makers, for it appeared that the Red Army was preparing to invade the island. Most observers believed that nothing short of American military intervention would preclude a communist victory on Taiwan. How U.S. officials grappled with the question of what to do about Taiwan is at the heart of this study. Prior to the publication of this book, much of the historical literature on this critical period in U.S. policy toward China concentrated on the question of relations with the new regime in Beijing. A focus on those debates has largely overshadowed the concomitant policy debates that centred around the question of how to deal with the Nationalist regime on Taiwan. As this study shows, the two issues were inextricably linked and developing a Taiwan policy was no less difficult or controversial. Heavily informed by an analysis of declassified U.S. government documents and other primary sources, this history strongly suggests that had North Korea not invaded the south in June 1950 the U.S. would not have intervened to save Chiang Kai-shek and Taiwan from near-certain invasion. Beyond the narrative itself, this volume is also a case study into the complex and sometimes messy processes by which foreign policy is made. It explores the tensions that existed within the Truman administration between the State Department and various newly-created entities such as the Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council. Indeed, the history of policymaking for China and Taiwan in 1949-50 is also a case study in the early development of the post-war interagency system. It also underscores the tensions between the Executive and Legislative branches in the development of foreign policy. The study also brings to light little-discussed and often uncomfortable issues in Taiwan history, some of which still have relevance to politics on the island even today. These include the legacies of the Japanese colonial experience, the post-war Nationalist occupation, and the early stirrings of the “Formosan” independence movement, to name just a couple. Today, U.S. policy toward Taiwan remains a highly-charged and fundamentally divisive issue in U.S.-China relations — especially the security dimensions of that policy. And even today U.S. Taiwan policy is still subject to partisan politics in Washington as well as in Taipei. For those who still grapple with this issue, this volume presents the roots of the dilemma and essential background reading.

The Scottish publishing firm of William Blackwood & Sons, founded in 1804, was a major force in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British literary history, publishing a diverse group of important authors--including George Eliot, John Galt, Thomas de Quincey, Margaret Oliphant, Anthony Trollope, Joseph Conrad, and John Buchan, among many others--in book form and in its monthly Blackwood's Magazine. In The House of Blackwood, David Finkelstein exposes for the first time the successes and failures of this onetime publishing powerhouse.

Finkelstein begins with a general history of the Blackwood firm from 1804 to 1920, attending to family dynamics over several generations, to their molding of a particular political and national culture, to the shaping of a Blackwood's audience, and to the multiple causes for the firm's decline in the decades before World War I. He then uses six case studies of authors--Conrad, Oliphant, John Hanning Speke, George Tompkyns Chesney, Charles Reade, and E. M. Forster--and their relationships with the publishing house. He mines the voluminous correspondence of the firm with its authors and, eventually, with the authors' agents. The value of the archive Finkelstein studies is its completeness, the depth of the ledger material (particularly interesting given that the Blackwoods did much of their own printing), and the extraordinary longevity of the firm. A key value of Finkelstein's account is his attention to the author/publisher/reader circuit that Robert Darnton emphasizes as the central focus of book history.