A History of Cambridge University Press: Volume 1, Printing and the Book Trade in Cambridge, 1534-1698 - A History of Cambridge University Press (Hardback)

David McKitterick (author)

£105.00

Hardback 524 Pages / Published: 28/09/1992

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Synopsis

This is the first of three volumes concerning the history of the oldest press in the world, a history that extends from the sixteenth century to the present day. Although there was, briefly, a press at Cambridge in the early 1520s, the origins of the modern University Press spring from a charter granted to the University by Henry VIII in 1534, to provide for printers who would be able to work outside London and serve the University. In the event no book was printed until fifty years later, but from 1583 to the present the line of University Printers stretches in unbroken succession. Covering the period from the Reformation to the end of the seventeenth century, and drawing on a wealth of unpublished or unfamiliar materials, this volume explores the University's attitude to its Printers, the books they chose to print, and the circumstances in which they worked. For the first time, the early history of the Press is set in its context - of authors, University authorities, and readers, and its activities are fully related to the wider issues of the book trade in Britain and overseas. This book will be of interest to all involved in the history of politics, literature, the Church, education and social life in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Britain.

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521308014
Number of pages: 524
Weight: 1472 g
Dimensions: 316 x 197 x 48 mm

MEDIA REVIEWS

"...McKitterick's treatment is learned, lively, and authoritative."
"McKitterick's tale is a rich and fascinating one, but it will take a particular and patient historical appetite to move comfortably through this feast of materials about the Tudor/Stewart book trade....He is fascinating on the commercial detail of publishing and the need for constant adaption to changing circumstances and markets. The central chapters on privileges and licensing, authors and printers, and the physical necessities of paper, type, and personnel constitute in themselves a major contribution to the relatively new genre of 'book history.' The volume is meticulously edited and produced...." David H. Stam, Albion
"McKitterick's work is an extraordinarily rich and involving book which cuts across all sorts of historiographical categories. His sources range from university archives to auction catalogues, from literary criticism to economic history. He provides a model of institutional history as part of the wider history of culture and its production." Anita Guerrini, The Public Historian
"...likely to provide the definitive history of the press for generations to come....a major reference source, and also a starting point for all future studies of Cambridge printing." David Stoker, Publishing Research Quarterly