This volume explores the history of reading in the British Isles during a period in which the printed word became all pervasive. From wealthy readers of 'amatory fiction', through to men and women reading surreptitiously at the Victorian railway bookstall, it argues that a variety of new reading communities emerged during this period.
Consuming Texts : Readers and Reading Communities, 1695-1870
Description
Table of Contents
Introduction: Consuming Texts Reading Has a History Reworking the Word: Readers and Their Manuscript Books, 1695-1730 Diversities of Reading Practice, 1695-1770 The Circulating Library, Book Club and Subscription Library- Readers and Reading Communities, 1770-1800 Communal Practice and Individual Response- Reading in the Late-Romantic Period Towards a Mass Audience, Or, John Clare and the Problem of the Unknown Public Conclusion: Texts Consumed Bibliography
Author Description
STEPHEN COLCLOUGH is Lecturer in Nineteenth and Twentieth-century Literature at the University of Wales, Bangor. From 2001 - 2005 he was AHRC Fellow in Book History at the Centre for Writing and Publishing, University of Reading. He has published widely on the history of reading and text dissemination.