The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain: Volume 4, 1557–1695

Cambridge University Press, 3/20/2014
EAN 9781107657854, ISBN10: 1107657857

Paperback, 947 pages, 22.8 x 15.3 x 4.8 cm
Language: English

Volume 4 of The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain covers the years between the incorporation of the Stationers' Company in 1557 and the lapsing of the Licensing Act in 1695. In a period marked by deep religious divisions, civil war and the uneasy settlement of the Restoration, printed texts - important as they were for disseminating religious and political ideas, both heterodox and state approved - interacted with oral and manuscript cultures. These years saw a growth in reading publics, from the developing mass market in almanacs, ABCs, chapbooks, ballads and news, to works of instruction and leisure. Atlases, maps and travel literature overlapped with the popular market but were also part of the project of empire. Alongside the creation of a literary canon and the establishment of literary publishing there was a tradition of dissenting publishing, while women's writing and reading became increasingly visible.

Introduction John Barnard
Part I. Religion and Politics
1. Religious publishing in England 1557–1640 Patrick Collinson, Arnold Hunt and Alexandra Walsham
2. Religious publishing in England c.1640–1695 Ian Green and Kate Peters
Part II. Oral Traditions and Scribal Culture
3. Oral and scribal texts in early modern England Harold Love
4. John Donne and the circulation of manuscripts Peter Beal
5. Music books Mary Chan
Part III. Literature of the Learned
6. The Latin trade Julian Roberts
7. Patronage and the printing of learned works for the author Graham Parry
8. University printing at Oxford and Cambridge David McKitterick
9. Editing the past
classical and historical scholarship Nicolas Barker
10. Maps and atlases Laurence Worms
11. The literature of travel Michael Brennan
12. Science and the book Adrian Johns
13. Samuel Hartlib and the commonwealth of learning Mark Greengrass
14. Ownership, private and public libraries Elisabeth Leedham-Green and David McKitterick
15. Monastic collections and their disposal James P. Carley
Part IV. Literary Canons
16. Literature, the playhouse and the public John Pitcher
17. Milton Joad Raymond
18. The Restoration poetic and dramatic canon Paul Hammond
19. Non-conformist voices Nigel Smith
20. Women writing and women written Maureen Bell
Part V. Vernacular Traditions
21. The Bible trade B. J. McMullin
22. English law books and legal publishing J. H. Baker
23. ABCs, almanacs, ballads, chapbooks, popular piety and textbooks R. C. Simmons
24. Books for daily life
household, husbandry, behaviour Lynette Hunter
25. The creation of the periodical press 1620–1695 Carolyn Nelson and Matthew Seccombe
Part VI. The Business of Print
26. Printing and publishing 1557–1700
constraints on the London book trades D. F. McKenzie
27. The economic context 1557–1695 James Raven
28. French paper in English books John Bidwell
29. The old English letter foundries Nicolas Barker
30. Bookbinding Mirjam M. Foot
31. Mise-en-page, illustration, expressive form
introduction Maureen Bell
Paratextual features of printed books Randall Anderson
The typography of Hobbes's Leviathan Peter Campbell
The Polyglot Bible Nicolas Barker
The look of news
Popish Plot narratives 1678–1680 Harold Love
Sir Roger L'Estrange
the journalism of orality T. A. Birrell
Part VII. Beyond London
Production, Distribution, Reception
32. The English provinces John Barnard and Maureen Bell
33. Scotland Jonquil Bevan
34. The book in Ireland from the Tudor re-conquest to the Battle of the Boyne Robert Welch
35. Wales Philip Henry Jones
36. British books abroad
the Continent Paul Hoftijzer
37. British books abroad
the American colonies Hugh Amory
Part VIII. Disruption and Restructuring
The Late Seventeenth-Century Book Trade
38. The stationers and the printing acts at the end of the seventeenth century Michael Treadwell
Statistical appendices
1. Statistical tables
2. Stationers' company apprentices C. Y. Ferdinand.

'The bibliography is extensive and detailed, and the index comprehensive and thorough. … here we have, naturally in book form, a major scholarly survey of just about every aspect of the book, commercial, physical and intellectual.' Reference Reviews

'… this fourth volume of the The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain will be a constant source of information and a stimulus to further thought: like its predecessor, it is a splendid achievement.' The Times Literary Supplement

'… the editors deserve congratulation for persuading so many eminent scholars to write to their strengths in such a pleasantly readable manner.' The Times Literary Supplement

'… the volume's range of scholarship is impressive. A rich group of illustrations … add to the reader's understanding of the texts themselves … must immediately become required reading for any student of early modern religion … All the contributors, as well as Cambridge University Press, must be congratulated on this splendidly comprehensive volume … it is a pleasure to read as well as an invaluable reference work.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History

'However, what this volume should do is encourage book historians out of their period and subject specialisms. It should also stimulate a broader acknowledgment of the importance of the book and the book trade.' Journal of the Printing Historical Society

'… our … most heartfelt thanks go to Cambridge University Press for a 'Cambridge History' fully worthy of its distinguished predecessors.' The Book Collector