Description
Book SynopsisIntroduces readers to the history of books in Britaintheir significance, influence, and current and future status Presented as a comprehensive, up-to-date narrative, The Book in Britain: A Historical Introduction explores the impact of books, manuscripts, and other kinds of material texts on the cultures and societies of the British Isles. The text clearly explains the technicalities of printing and publishing and discusses the formal elements of books and manuscripts, which are necessary to facilitate an understanding of that impact. This collaboratively authored narrative history combines the knowledge and expertise of five scholars who seek to answer questions such as: How does the material form of a text affect its meaning? How do books shape political and religious movements? How have the economics of the book trade and copyright shaped the literary canon? Who has been included in and excluded from the world of books, and why? The Book in Britain: A Historical Introduction will appeal to all scholars, students, and historians interested in the written word and its continued production and presentation.
Trade Review“For book history courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate level (which is surely where this is primarily aimed) it will be an invaluable introduction, not least because of the comprehensive citations throughout and the excellent bibliography which derives from them.” - John Feather (2019) The Book in Britain: A Historical Introduction, Library & Information History, 35:4, 229-230
Table of ContentsEditor’s Note vii
A Note on Money viii
List of Illustrations x
Introduction 1
Part I The Middle Ages and the Renaissance 9
1 Early Beginnings to the Norman Conquest of 1066 11
2 From the High Middle Ages to the Coming of Print, 1066–1530 48
3 Consolidation and Control in the World of Print, 1530–1640 81
Part II The Interregnum and the Long Eighteenth Century 135
4 Politics and Periodicals, 1641–1695 137
5 Partisan Strife and the World of Print, 1695–1740 177
6 Managing the Flood of Print, 1740–1780 205
Part III From the Nineteenth Century to the Modern Age 227
7 Consolidating Change, 1780–1820 229
8 The Distribution Revolution: Innovation and Diversity, 1820–1870 251
9 The Age of Mass Production, 1870–1920 317
Part IV The Twentieth and Twenty‐First Centuries 339
10 Minority Culture and Popular Print, 1920–1940 341
11 The Age of the Mass‐Market Paperback, 1940–1970 371
12 Big Business and Digital Technology, 1970–2018 413
References 461
Index 506
