Legal Publishing in Antebellum America

Legal Publishing in Antebellum America presents a history of the law book publishing and distribution industry in the United States.

M. H. Hoeflich (Author)

9781107617841, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 August 2013

206 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.31 kg

Review of the hardback: ' … full of useful details and insights, often so well presented that they trump (for enjoyment) any consideration of business trends or intellectual movements. Readers will cite Hoeflich's scheme of periodization; but they will also remember the many inferences he can draw from a printed catalogue or a list of subscribers.' Law and History Review

Legal Publishing in Antebellum America presents a history of the law book publishing and distribution industry in the United States. Part business history, part legal history, part history of information diffusion, M. H. Hoeflich shows how various developments in printing and bookbinding, the introduction of railroads, and the expansion of mail service contributed to the growth of the industry from an essentially local industry to a national industry. Furthermore, the book ties the spread of a particular approach to law, that is, the 'scientific approach', championed by Northeastern American jurists to the growth of law publishing and law book selling and shows that the two were critically intertwined.

Introduction
1. A bookish profession
2. Birth of the law book trade
3. Spreading the word: catalogues and cultivation
4. Bidding for law books
5. Risk, subscriptions, and status
6. John Livingston, esq.: law bookseller as cultural entrepreneur
7. Conclusion: selling the law in antebellum America.

Subject Areas: Legal history [LAZ], Publishing industry & book trade [KNTP], Industrialisation & industrial history [HBTK], History of the Americas [HBJK]