Publishing and Readership in Revolutionary France and America

This volume presents a comparative framework in which to study the history of publishing and reading in Europe and North America during the eighteenth century. The chapters are written by leading French and American specialists in publishing during the pre-revolutionary and revolutionary eras. The book synthesizes current knowledge in the field and advances scholarship, particularly with respect to copyright legislation. It skillfully integrates the history of publishing during this period with the larger field of eighteenth-century intellectual and cultural history.The chapters are grouped in four sections devoted to publishing as a profession, publishing and the law, readership, and the collection and use of materials. Each broad area is addressed by both specialists from France and America to create a comparative context. The chapters address more particular topics from the perspectives of social, economic, and cultural history; literary criticism; law; and library history. The comparative framework yields new insights into the political cultures of eighteenth-century France and America and into the relationship of print media and political culture.

Comparative study of publishing and reading in revolutionary France and America.

Introduction by Carol ArmbrusterPublishing as a ProfessionPrinting, Books, and Revolution by Daniel RocheThe Life Cycle of a Book: A Publishing History of D'Holbach's Systéme de la Nature by Robert DarntonA Silent Revolution: Benjamin Franklin and Print Culture by Larzer ZiffPublishing and the LawThe Dilemmas of Republican Publishing, 1793-1799 by Carla HesseGovernment, Law, Public Opinion, and the Printed Word in Eighteenth-Century America by James GilreathA Tale of Two Copyrights: Literary Property in Revolutionary France and America by Jane C. GinsburgReadingBook Markets and Reading in France at the End of the Old Regime by Roger ChartierMale and Female, Words and Images in the French Revolution by Lynn HuntThe Politics of Writing and Reading in Eighteenth-Century America by David HallPublication and the Public Sphere by Michael WarnerCollecting and Using MaterialsThe French Revolution and Books: Cultural Break, Cultural Continuity by Henri-Jean MartinSome Eighteenth Century American Book Collectors, Their Collections, and Their Legacies by Marcus A. McCorisonIndex