William Tinsley (1830 1900) was a noted Victorian publisher whose catalogue included works by such celebrated novelists as Thomas Hardy and Wilkie Collins. This two-volume autobiography, first published in 1900, traces his life from his rural childhood to the establishment and rise of the Tinsley Brothers company in 1858, and its later collapse. Each chapter contains a series of brief sketches of authors and other contemporaries. Volume 2 charts Tinsley's later career, and features several lengthier portraits of some of the personalities he encountered. It also includes information on...

A passionate defence of educational opportunities for the working classes by one of Victorian England's most committed social reformers.

This 1828 treatise was the first comprehensive examination of copyright laws in Britain.

This history of libraries in Britain and Europe concentrates on the role of the individual collector in cultural preservation.

This lively account of the history of paper-making from its beginnings to the Victorian period appeared in 1855.

In this famous book, first published in 1832, Charles Babbage (1791 1871), the mathematician, philosopher, engineer and inventor who originated the concept of a programmable computer, surveys manufacturing practices and discusses the political, moral and economic factors affecting them. The book met with hostility from the publishing industry on account of Babbage's analysis of the manufacture and sale of books. Babbage describes the many different printing processes of the time, analyses the costs of book production and explains the publication process, before discussing the 'too large'...

First published in 1897, this is one of many books written by the technical journalist John Southward (1840 1902), one of the most prolific writers on printing in the nineteenth century. As the title indicates, Southward is primarily concerned with the development and progress of printing. Here he takes a thoroughly practical approach, surveying the different methods of printing and considering the improvements made in printing advertisements, books and newspapers, as well as to the different stages of the printing process itself. Southward's prose is clear and precise, and his style changes...

William Tinsley (1830 1900) was a noted Victorian publisher whose catalogue included works by such celebrated novelists as Thomas Hardy and Wilkie Collins. This two-volume autobiography, first published in 1900, traces his life from his rural childhood to the establishment and rise of the Tinsley Brothers company in 1858, and its later collapse. Each chapter contains a series of brief sketches of authors and other contemporaries. Volume 1 spans Tinsley's early days and travels to London, along with his first encounters with the publishing world. It includes detailed portraits of Mary...

This history of libraries is particularly important as a pioneering work on all aspects of public library management and organisation.

This history of libraries is particularly important as a pioneering work on all aspects of public library management and organisation.