The British Publishing Industry in the Nineteenth Century

This volume assembles documents that illustrate the changing structure of the publishing industry in the period and its intersections with other branches of the book trade. It charts the increasing separation of the functions of printing, publishing and bookselling in the production and distribution of books, and the emergence of new economic models of publishing. For most of the period the book trade operated on a shortage of capital, depending upon fragile networks of credit and debt which could lead, as in the financial crisis of 1826-7, to the collapse of many businesses. The volume documents how the structures of the industry impacted upon the pricing structure of books and periodicals and the slow emergence of a mass-market for print. Trade practices of discounting and underselling were a topic of intense debate throughout the period in both trade and general periodicals. The volume focuses on key moments such as the controversy over free trade in the 1840s and 1850s, the formation of trade associations in the 1890s, and the debates over price protection which led to the formation of the Net Book Agreement in 1900, successfully tested in the 'Times Book War' of 1906-8. The volume also illustrates the shifting geographies of the trade: the increasing dominance of London but the continued importance of printing and publishing in Scotland and Ireland (Edinburgh and Dublin in particular) and developments in provincial areas of Britain. Documents include material drawn from contemporary books; articles and correspondence in contemporary newspapers and periodicals such as the Times, the Westminster Review and Fraser's Magazine; articles published in trade journals such as the Publishers' Circular and the Bookseller; documents produced by trade organisations; and material from the W.H. Smith archive.