The Book History Reader

by Finkelstein; David

• ISBN13: 9780415359474
• ISBN10: 0415359473
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-12-13
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Since the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century, books and print culture have been central to the shaping of culture and society.The Book History Readeris the first comprehensive volume to bring together a variety of work - much of which is now out of print or impossible to access - examining key aspects of book history. International in scope and interdisciplinary in nature, book history studies is a rapidly growing subject which analyses books and print as cultural artefacts.The Book History Readeris an essential collection of writings examining different aspects of the history of books and print culture: the development of the book, the move from spoken word to written texts, the commodification of books and authors and the power and profile of readers. The second edition features new articles covering issues of gender, material culture and bibliographical matters and a new section on the future of the book in the electronic age. Arranged in thematic sections andfeaturing a general introduction to the Reader as well as an introduction to each section, the editors illustrate how book history studies have developed a broad approach which incorporates social and cultural considerations governing the production, dissemination and reception of print and texts. This pioneering book will be a vital resource for all those involved in publishing studies, library studies, book history and also those studying English literature, cultural studies, sociology and history.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	p. ix
Preface	p. x
Acknowledgements	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
What is book history?
Editors' Introduction	p. 7
What is the History of Books?	p. 9
Bibliography, Pure Bibliography, and Literary Studies	p. 27
The Book as an Expressive Form	p. 35
A New Model for the Study of the Book	p. 47
The Socialization of Texts	p. 66
Early Modern Print Culture: Assessing the Models	p. 74
Labourers and Voyagers: From the Text to the Reader	p. 87
The Field of Cultural Production	p. 99
The impact of print
Editors' introduction	p. 123
Text, Script, and Media: New Observations on Scribal Activity in the Ancient Near East	p. 125
Orality and Literacy: Writing Restructures Consciousness	p. 134
Manuscripts	p. 147
The Practical Impact of Writing	p. 157
The Body of the Book: The Media Transition from Manuscript to Print	p. 182
The Indian Ecumene: An Indigenous Public Sphere	p. 190
The Sociology of a Text: Orality, Literacy and Print in Early New Zealand	p. 205
Defining the Initial Shift: Some Features of Print Culture	p. 232
The Book of Nature and the Nature of the Book	p. 255
Texts and authors
Editors' Introduction	p. 275
The Death of the Author	p. 277
What is an Author?	p. 281
Oral Religio-Political Activism and Textual Production	p. 292
Literary Property Determined	p. 308
Authors, Publishers and the Making of Literary Culture	p. 318
Cultures of the Commonplace	p. 327
Masterpiece Theater: The Politics of Hawthorne's Literary Reputation	p. 337
The Victorian Novelists: Who Were They?	p. 345
When is a Book Not a Book?	p. 354
The Magazine Market	p. 369
Toward International Cooperation: The Literary Editing of H.D. and Bryher	p. 377
Texts and readers
Editors' Introduction	p. 389
Interaction Between Text and Reader	p. 391
Literacy Instruction and Gender in Colonial New England	p. 397
Reading Practices	p. 416
Rereading the English Common Reader: A Preface to a History of Audiences	p. 424
The English Common Reader: From Caxton to the Eighteenth Century	p. 440
Interpreting the Variorum	p. 450
Forgotten Readers: Recovering the Lost History of African American Literary Societies	p. 459
A Feeling for Books: The Book-of-the-Month Club, Literary Taste and Middle-Class Desire	p. 469
The future of the book
Editors' Introduction	p. 485
The Digital Subject and Cultural Theory	p. 486
Material Matters: The Past and Futurology of the Book	p. 494
Farewell to the Information Age	p. 509
Bibliography	p. 526
Index	p. 545
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