The Reading Nation in the Romantic Period [Paperback]

This 2004 book investigates how the national culture can be understood through a study of books that were read.During the centuries when printed paper was the only means by which texts could be carried across time and distance, most people believed that reading helped to shape the minds, attitudes, and actions of readers. From quantified information he provides on book prices, print runs, intellectual property, and readerships gathered from over fifty publishing and printing archives, St Clair offers a picture of the past very different from those presented by traditional approaches. This book is indispensable to students of English literature, book history, and the history of ideas.During the centuries when printed paper was the only means by which texts could be carried across time and distance, most people believed that reading helped to shape the minds, attitudes, and actions of readers. From quantified information he provides on book prices, print runs, intellectual property, and readerships gathered from over fifty publishing and printing archives, St Clair offers a picture of the past very different from those presented by traditional approaches. This book is indispensable to students of English literature, book history, and the history of ideas.Most people believed that reading significantly influenced minds, attitudes, and actions during the centuries when printed paper was the only means by which texts could travel across time and distance. William St. Clair offers a very different picture of the past from those presented by traditional approaches through quantified information he provides on book prices, print runs, intellectual property, and readerships gathered from over fifty publishing and printing archives.Illustrations; Tables; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; 1. Reading and its consequences; 2. Economic characteristics of the printed book industry; 3. Intellectual property; 4. Anthologies, abridgment, and the development of commercial vested intereslӆ