Dublin's Trade in Books 1550-1800

by M. Pollard

Overview

This is the first book to examine the Irish book trade as exemplified by the bookselling practices of Dublin. Previous studies have focused mainly on the English trade discussing Irish practices only as a footnote. This study focuses on Ireland, and draws on a wealth of material including daybooks, imprints, advertisements, and books themselves to build a detailed picture of the fortunes and practices of Irish bookselling. Pollard not only discusses relations with London, but looks in detail at the market at home, the structure and economic background of the Dublin trade, what books were published, and for whom. In addition, Pollard examines the significant expansion of the book trade during the 18th century, and provides the first survey of imports and exports revealing just how many books entered Ireland, and the supply of Dublin books to overseas markets.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198184096
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/08/1990
Series:	Lyell Lectures in Bibliography , #1986
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.69(w) x 8.81(h) x 0.88(d)

About the Author

Trinity College Library, Dublin

Table of Contents

	List of Illustrations	xiii
	List of Tables	xiv
	List of Graphs	xv
	Abbreviations	xvi
1.	Legal Restraints and Censorship, 1600-1800	1
	The King's Printer's Monopoly, 1604-1732	2
	State Licensing and Censorship in the Seventeenth Century	11
	Statute Law and Censorship in the Eighteenth Century	16
2.	Bookselling before 1700	32
	Imported Books Supplied by General Merchants	33
	The Stationers' Company of London and the Irish Stock, 1618-1641	36
	Imports by Booksellers and Others, 1665-1700	39
	The Daybook of Samuel Helsham, Bookseller, 1685	42
	Auctions and Collectors	61
3.	The Implications of the Copyright Act: Dublin's Relations with London	66
	The British Copyright and Importation Acts	67
	Book-smuggling and the Stationers' Company	74
	The Irish Market for British Books: London's Losses and Gains	87
	Joint Bookselling and Publishing	92
	Negotiations for Dublin Reprint Rights	97
	The Writers' Attitudes to Dublin Reprints	102
4.	Prices, Exports, Imports	110
	Prices and Production Costs	110
	Exports	135
	Imports	153
5.	The Dublin Book Trade and the Home Market	165
	Trade Regulation and 'Copyright' Problems	166
	The Structure of the Trade	181
	Distribution	187
	Finance and Trade Sidelines	191
	Analysis of Three Publication Lists	195
	The Book Trade and Irish Readers	209
Appendix	Eight pages from the Daybook of Samuel Helsham, Bookseller, March-May 1685	227
	List of Sources	253
	Index	267

Editorial Reviews

"Represents a major contribution to the history of the book trade and consequently to 18th-century social, economic, intellectual, and literary history."—CHOICE

"This is a much-anticipated work."—The Eighteenth Century: A Current Bibliography

From the Publisher