Women Booksellers in the Twentieth Century
Hidden Behind the Bookshelves

Reclaims histories of women booksellers, showing their impact on cultural, intellectual and professional contexts of the twentieth century.

Samantha J. Rayner (Author)

9781108445382, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 January 2025

120 pages
17.7 x 12.5 x 0.7 cm, 0.12 kg

The British women booksellers who built and ran successful businesses before, during, and after the Second World War have largely been forgotten. This Element seeks to reclaim some of these histories from where they lie hidden or obscured in archives, accounts of the book trade of the time, and other sources. Though they were often called 'formidable', this research reveals astonishing impact at local, national, and international levels. Divided into four main sections, the Element first gives a literature review of materials about booksellers, before giving a short context to bookselling, the book trade, and book buyers and readers of the early twentieth century. A third section examines the position of women in society at that time, including how they were viewed as part of the book trade; the final section provides histories of nine women booksellers. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Introduction
1. Literature Review of Work on Bookselling
2. Histories and Contexts
3. Women and Bookselling
4. Women Booksellers
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]