The articles in this volume highlight the developments in the history of the book in the eighteenth century: the foundations of modern copyright; a rapid growth in the publication, circulation and reading of periodicals; the promotion of niche marketing; alterations to distribution networks; and the emergence of the publisher as a central figure in the book trade.

Influenced by Enlightenment principles and commercial transformations, the history of the book in the eighteenth century witnessed not only the final decades of the hand-press era but also developments and practices that pointed to its future: ’the foundations of modern copyright; a rapid growth in the publication, circulation, and reading of periodicals; the promotion of niche marketing; alterations to distribution networks; and the emergence of the publisher as a central figure in the book trade, to name a few.’ The pace and extent of these changes varied greatly within the different sociopolitical contexts across the western world. The volume’s twenty-four articles, many of which proffer broader theoretical implications beyond their specific focus, highlight the era’s range of developments. Complementing these articles, the introductory essay provides an overview of the eighteenth-century book and milestones in its history during this period while simultaneously identifying potential directions for new scholarship.

This collection of published papers on the development of the publishing cycle from author to reader includes work by many of the leading authorities on the history of the book in the nineteenth century, including James Barnes, Simon Eliot, Kate Flint, Elizabeth McHenry, Robert Patten, David Vincent and Ronald Zboray. It contains examples of different approaches, reflecting the fact that scholars come from a variety of disciplinary traditions, such as bibliography, typography, literary studies, library studies and the history of science. The introduction provides an overview of both the historical context and recent work on the subject. The volume is divided into five sections: National Publishing Structures in America, France, and Russia; International Trade; Publishing Practices; Distribution; Reading. The collection includes work in the tradition of French book history which has focussed on the systems and structures of the publishing industry and Anglo-American book history characterised by detailed analyses of the publication of a specific title or the practices of an individual reader.

Beginning with one of the crucial technological breakthroughs of Western history - the development of moveable type by Johann Gutenberg - The History of the Book in the West 1455-1700 covers the period that saw the growth and consolidation of the printed book as a significant feature of Western European culture and society. The volume collects together seventeen key articles, written by leading scholars during the past five decades, that together survey a wide range of topics, such as typography, economics, regulation, bookselling, and reading practices. Books, whether printed or in manuscript, played a major role in the religious, political, and intellectual upheavals of the period, and understanding how books were made, distributed, and encountered provides valuable new insights into the history of Western Europe in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries.

This selection of papers by major scholars introduces students to the history of the book in the West from late Antiquity to the publication of the Gutenberg Bible and the beginning of the print revolution. The collection opens with wide-ranging papers on handwriting and the physical make-up of the book. In the second group of papers the emphasis is on the ’look’ of the book, complemented by a third group dealing with scribes, readers and the availability of books. The editors’ introduction provides an overview of the medieval book.

This collection brings together published papers on key themes which book historians have identified as of particular significance in the history of twentieth-century publishing. It reprints some of the best comparative perspectives and most insightful and innovatively presented scholarship on publishing and book history from such figures as Philip Altbach, Lewis Coser, James Curran, Elizabeth Long, Laura Miller, Angus Phillips, Janice Radway, Jonathan Rose, Shafquat Towheed, Catherine Turner, Jay Satterfield, Clare Squires, Eva Hemmungs Wirtén. It is arranged into six sections which examine the internationalisation of publishing businesses, changing notions of authorship, innovation in the design and marketing of books, the specific effects of globalisation on creative property and the book in a multimedia marketplace. Twentieth-century book history attracts an audience beyond the traditional disciplines of librarianship, bibliography, history and literary studies. It will appeal to publishing educators, editors, publishers, booksellers, as well as academics with an interest in media and popular culture.