ABSTRACT

This comprehensive history (first published in 1987) covers the whole period in which books have been printed in Britain. Though Gutenberg had the edge over Caxton, England quickly established itself in the forefront of the international book trade. The slow process of copying manuscripts gave way to an increasingly sophisticated trade in the printed word which brought original literature, translations, broadsheets and chapbooks and even the Bible within the purview of an increasingly broad slice of society. Powerful political forces continued to control the book trade for centuries before the principle of freedom of opinion was established. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the competition from pirated USA editions - where there were no copyright laws - provided a powerful threat to the trade. This period also saw the rise of remaindering, cheap literature, and many other 'modern' features of the trade. The author surveys all these developments, bringing his history up to the present age.

chapter |3 pages

Introduction

part |1 pages

Part One: The Press in Chains 1476–1695

chapter 1|12 pages

The Book Revolution

chapter 2|10 pages

Books in the Marketplace

chapter 3|14 pages

The Foundation of an Industry

chapter 4|7 pages

A Taste of Freedom

chapter 5|14 pages

The Licensed Press

part |1 pages

Part Two: Licence and Liberty 1695–1800

chapter 6|17 pages

Response to Freedom

chapter 7|9 pages

The Trade and the Law

chapter 8|13 pages

The Expanding Trade

chapter 9|10 pages

Periodicals and Part Books

chapter 10|10 pages

Publishers and Booksellers

part |1 pages

Part Three: The First of the Mass Media 1800–1900

chapter 13|10 pages

The Age of the Novel

chapter 14|9 pages

The Diffusion of Knowledge

chapter 15|11 pages

The Publishers and the Authors

part |1 pages

Part Four: The Trade in the Twentieth Century

chapter 16|10 pages

The Customs of the Trade

chapter 17|13 pages

Old Ways and New Directions

chapter 18|8 pages

Allen Lane's Idea

chapter 19|12 pages

The Trade in War and Peace