The emergence of print in late fifteenth-century Italy gave a crucial new importance to the editors of texts, who could strongly influence the interpretation and status of texts by determining the form and context in which they would be read. Brian Richardson examines the Renaissance production, circulation and reception of texts by earlier writers including Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio and Ariosto, as well as popular contemporary works of entertainment. In so doing he sheds light on the impact of the new printing and editing methods on Renaissance culture.

This study of some of the central questions in literary publishing in mid-nineteenth-century North America and Britain is addressed through examination of the unusually rich archives of one of the preeminent literary publishers of the time. Michael Winship analyzes the records and publications of Boston-based Ticknor and Fields, revealing how its books were produced, marketed and distributed, and the extent of its expenses and profits. He goes on to show how an investigation of Ticknor and Fields enriches our understanding of the literary and cultural history of North America and Britain.

Conventional literary history has virtually ignored the role of newspaper syndicates in publishing some of the most famous nineteenth-century writers. Henry James, Rudyard Kipling and Mark Twain were among those who offered their early fiction to "Syndicates," firms that subsequently sold the work to newspapers across America for simultaneous, first-time publication. Charles Johanningsmeier shows how the economic practicalities of the syndicate system governed the consumption and interpretation of various literary texts. His study revises the conception of traditional literary history by...

The Correspondence of Robert Dodsley 1733 1764 brings to light much previously unpublished detail for the study of eighteenth-century British literary and publishing history. It is a fully annotated edition of letters exchanged between Robert Dodsley - London's leading literary publisher of the mid eighteenth century - and his authors, members of the book trade, and friends. Numbering about four hundred pieces, the correspondence reflects the publisher's relations with such people as Edmund Burke, the 4th Earl of Chesterfield, David Garrick, Thomas Gray, David Hume, Samuel Johnson, Laurence...

The cheap Bibles of nineteenth-century Britain were read in millions of homes, and were also potent symbols of national virtue. In an age of social ferment, cheap Bibles - most published by the British and Foreign Bible Society - represented both the promise of mass literacy and the benefits of industrialisation. This book, based on correspondence and other archival records, tells the story of the BFBS from two perspectives: its place in the history of publishing and printing and in contemporary society. The BFBS, founded in 1804, grew out of the evangelical revival and became a popular...

This study of some of the central questions in literary publishing in mid-nineteenth-century North America and Britain is addressed through examination of the unusually rich archives of one of the preeminent literary publishers of the time. Michael Winship analyzes the records and publications of Boston-based Ticknor and Fields, revealing how its books were produced, marketed and distributed, and the extent of its expenses and profits. He goes on to show how an investigation of Ticknor and Fields enriches our understanding of the literary and cultural history of North America and Britain.

Following the discovery of manuscript materials, including hundreds of unpublished additions and changes, for Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language, Allen Reddick describes the conception, composition, writing, and subsequent revision of the first great English dictionary, and the only dictionary created by a great writer. In this second edition of his acclaimed study, Reddick incorporates new commentary and scholarship, and situates The Making of Johnson's Dictionary in current critical and scholarly debate.

The emergence of print in late fifteenth-century Italy gave a crucial new importance to the editors of texts, who could strongly influence the interpretation and status of texts by determining the form and context in which they would be read. Brian Richardson examines the Renaissance production, circulation and reception of texts by earlier writers including Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio and Ariosto, as well as popular contemporary works of entertainment. In so doing he sheds light on the impact of the new printing and editing methods on Renaissance culture.

When printing first began, a new book automatically fell into the public domain upon publication. Only a special law or privilegium enacted by a competent authority could protect it from being reprinted without the consent of the author or publisher. Such privileges for books are attested before 1480, but in Germany and Italy their efficacy was limited to a relatively small area by the political fragmentation of the country. During the 1480s and 1490s France became one of Europe's main centres of book production and, as competition intensified, privileges were sought there from 1498. Although...

This book is about the radical transformation of British literary culture during the period 1880 to 1914 as seen through the early publishing careers of Joseph Conrad, Arnold Bennett and Arthur Conan Doyle. Peter D. McDonald examines the cultural politics of the period by considering the social structure of the literary world in which these writers worked. By tracing the complex network of relationships among writers, publishers, reviewers and readers, McDonald demonstrates the importance of social history and publishing to questions of critical interpretation.