Thoroughly revised, restructured and updated, A History of British Publishing covers six centuries of publishing in Britain from before the invention of the printing press, to the electronic era of today.
John Feather places Britain and her industries in an international marketplace and examines just how ‘British’, British publishing really is. Considering not only the publishing industry itself, but also the areas affecting, and affected by it, Feather traces the history of publishing books in Britain and examines:
- education
- politics
- technology
- law
- religion
- custom
- class
- finance, production and distribution
- the onslaught of global corporations.
Specifically designed for publishing and book history courses, this is the only book to give an overall history of British publishing, and will be an invaluable resource for all students of this fascinating subject.
Part 1: The Early Modern Book Trade 1. Literacy, Print and Culture in Early Modern England 2. The Development of the Book Trade 3. The Book Trade and the State 4. The Market for Books Part 2: Publishing in the Industrial Age 5. The First Publishers 6. The Book Trade and the Industrial Revolution 7. Publishing in a Free Trade Economy 8. The Diffusion of Knowledge 9. The Age of the Novel 10. Authors and Publishers Part 3: The Publishing Industry in the Twentieth Century 1. The First of the Mass Media 12. The Publishing Industry 13. Paperback Publishing 14. Publishing for the Empire 15. The Trade in War and Peace 16. New Competitors 17. The Second Industrial Revolution 18. British Publishing in a Global Economy
Biography
John Feather
