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

This volume contains thirty-eight chapters on print culture in a time of religious divisions and civil war.

John Barnard (Edited by), D. F. McKenzie (Edited by), Maureen Bell (With)

9781107657854, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 March 2014

947 pages, 44 b/w illus.
22.8 x 15.3 x 4.8 cm, 1.33 kg

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

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.

Subject Areas: Bibliographies, catalogues [GBCR], Literature: history & criticism [DS]