The Development of the International Book Trade, 1870-1895: Tangled Networks [Hardcover]

An international trade emerged between 1870-1895 that incorporated the circulation of books among countries worldwide. A history of the social network and select agents who sold and distributed books overseas, this study demonstrates agents increasingly thought of the world as a negotiable, connected system and books as transnational commodities.Acknowledgements Introduction Social Networks Developing Distribution Channels and the Social Network Piracy, Copyright, and the International Book Trade The International Book Trade The Colonial Booksellers Agency Conclusion Endnotes Bibliography Index

'This is an absolutely first-rate work at the very cutting edge of book history research, which for the last few years has been increasingly turning away from national models towards the international trade. Despite this, there exists at present no concerted account of the vast expansion in global publishing during the closing phases of British imperialism. At the moment we have specialised accounts of particular firms, but nothing that brings all these accounts together into a concerted overview of the whole nexus: the 'tangled network' of international trade at a vital period in its expansion. This book does all of that, enabling us to view each strand as part of a world tapestry. It is scrupulously researched. It is superbly written. Theoretically as well as empirically sophisticated, it engages intelligently with the most rewarding debates going on in book history at the present time. It is, in fine, a must.' - Professor Robert Fraser, Open University, UK