Bookscape: Geographies of Printing and Publishing in London Before 1800 (Hardback)

This book offers fresh perspectives on the early modern and eighteenth-century book trade in London. Using a range of new illustrative and topographical evidence, James Raven reconstructs the communities of London printers, booksellers and their associates, reassessing working practices and the changes brought to different neighborhoods. He probes ideas of place, space and memory, and revisits ancient book trade sites from St Paul's Churchyard and Paternoster Row to Fleet Street, Little Britain and Cornhill. Many traditional locations came to host new businesses and new social activities. Raven shows how the transformation in publishing capacity relates to different sites of production. Booksellers altered shops and operations, and the working environment brought new challenges and complications. Particular sites allowed sharing and support between printers, stationers and booksellers, and trade was boosted by nearby markets and services. Increased industry also attracted brash entrants to the book trade, not all of whom won approval.