Whether Enlightenment philosophy, Shakespeare, landscape gardening or fashionable clothing - the 18th Century is considered to be the most "English" century in German history. This study examines the material basis of this intensive cultural transfer at the point where the history of the book trade overlaps with the history of science and ideas, and German and English studies: the Distribution and Translation of English Literature in 18th Century Germany. It describes the theory and practice of translation right up to the working conditions of the often impoverished translators. Previous studies dealing with the discovery of England or an image of England in 18th Century Germany have limited themselves to the issue of the reception of individual authors and heavyweights of literary fiction. Neither the factors of distribution and translation nor academic and informative writing have been satisfactorily researched until now.