
The French Book Trade in Enlightenment Europe II
Enlightenment Bestsellers
Simon Burrows(Author)
Bloomsbury Academic USA (Publisher)
Published on 9. August 2018
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-1-4411-2601-6 (ISBN)
Description
This is a rich and path-breaking comparative study of reading tastes in the final years of old regime Europe. Based on extensive research in the account books of the Swiss publishers, the Societe Typographique de Neuchatel (STN), and related archives, it charts the dissemination of literature and reading tastes across Europe in the years leading up to the French revolution. In the process, it recasts our understanding of late 18th-century print culture and the contours of the enlightenment. The fruit of a widely acclaimed five year database project, the STN database, it is also a story of pioneering efforts to apply the latest digital technology and GIS mapping techniques to traditional historical and bibliographic problems.
Although written to serve as a standalone study, this book is ideally complemented by its companion volume, Mark Curran's The French Book Trade in Enlightenment Europe I: Selling Enlightenment, which offers a radical reinterpretation of the structure and practices of the European book trade.
The STN database is now recognised as a cutting-edge digital project of global significance. Robert Darnton has called it "a prodigious accomplishment and a joy to use" while Jeremy Popkin adds, "No one working in the field of French Enlightenment studies ... can afford to ignore the rich mine of data that Simon Burrows and his collaborators have made accessible, in an eminently usable form, and the new possibilities it opens up for scholars." The French Book Trade in Enlightenment Europe I and II offer a roadmap of that data and what it can show us.
Although written to serve as a standalone study, this book is ideally complemented by its companion volume, Mark Curran's The French Book Trade in Enlightenment Europe I: Selling Enlightenment, which offers a radical reinterpretation of the structure and practices of the European book trade.
The STN database is now recognised as a cutting-edge digital project of global significance. Robert Darnton has called it "a prodigious accomplishment and a joy to use" while Jeremy Popkin adds, "No one working in the field of French Enlightenment studies ... can afford to ignore the rich mine of data that Simon Burrows and his collaborators have made accessible, in an eminently usable form, and the new possibilities it opens up for scholars." The French Book Trade in Enlightenment Europe I and II offer a roadmap of that data and what it can show us.
Reviews / Votes
Using the latest digital-humanities techniques, Simon Burrows's book gives us new insights into the readers and publishers of the Enlightenment era. His conclusions challenge the popular interpretations of scholars such as Robert Darnton and Jonathan Israel and force us to rethink the notion of "Enlightenment bestsellers". This is a valuable contribution to book history and the history of the circulation of ideas. * Jeremy D. Popkin, William T. Bryan Chair of History, University of Kentucky, USA *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
1 Maps
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
534 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4411-2601-6 (9781441126016)
DOI
CBID162573
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
08/2018
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic USA
€69.99
Available for download
Person
Simon Burrows is Professor of History at Western Sydney University, Australia. His many publications include A King's Ransom (2010), and The Chevalier d'Eon and His Worlds, edited with Jonathan Conlin, Russell Goulbourne and Valerie Mainz (2010).
Content
1. At the Shield of Minerva
2. The Elusive Enlightenment
3. The Book in Enlightenment Culture
4. Searching (for) Enlightenment in a Swiss Printshop
5. The Intellectual Geography of the STN
6. Forgotten Bestsellers
7. Troubling Taxonomies
8. The Anatomy of the Illegal Sector
9. Enlightened Cosmopolitanism and Novel Concerns
10. Of Science, Faith and Reason
11. From Swiss Politics to Revolutionary History
12. Conclusion
Appendix 1: Designer Notes on the French Book Trade Database
Appendix 2: Towards a Digital History of the Book
Bibliography
Index
2. The Elusive Enlightenment
3. The Book in Enlightenment Culture
4. Searching (for) Enlightenment in a Swiss Printshop
5. The Intellectual Geography of the STN
6. Forgotten Bestsellers
7. Troubling Taxonomies
8. The Anatomy of the Illegal Sector
9. Enlightened Cosmopolitanism and Novel Concerns
10. Of Science, Faith and Reason
11. From Swiss Politics to Revolutionary History
12. Conclusion
Appendix 1: Designer Notes on the French Book Trade Database
Appendix 2: Towards a Digital History of the Book
Bibliography
Index