American Literary Publishing in the Mid-nineteenth Century: The Business of Ticknor and Fields

Description

This study of some of the central questions in literary publishing in mid-nineteenth-century North America and Britain is addressed through examination of the unusually rich archives of one of the preeminent literary publishers of the time. Michael Winship analyzes the records and publications of Boston-based Ticknor and Fields, revealing how its books were produced, marketed and distributed, and the extent of its expenses and profits. He goes on to show how an investigation of Ticknor and Fields enriches our understanding of the literary and cultural history of North America and Britain.

"American Literary Publishing in the Mid-Ninteenth Century is an important contribution to our understanding of the business of the business and profession of literary publishing, and it will prove itself an even more valuable contribution when future scholars use its findings to move toward an assessment of the contribution of the publishing sector to the making of modern letters." Ezra Greenspan, Papers of thr Bibliographical Society of America "What we have here...is a wonderful resource for future studies of mid-nineteenth-century American publishing history." Joel Myerson, An Interdisciplinary Annual of Textual Studies "A valuable addition to the burgeoning field of the history of the book...the deeply researched tools of business analysis provided here should be of use to a wide range of cultural historians interested in further exploring links between commerce and culture within the history of the book." Alice Fahs, Journal of American History "Parts of this important story have been told before,...but never so satisfactorily and coherently as in this remarkably learned and sensible book. 19th Century Literature