
Reading Matters
Five Centuries of Discovering Books
Margaret Willes(Author)
Yale University Press
Published on 1. November 2008
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-0-300-12729-4 (ISBN)
Description
It is easy to forget in our own day of cheap paperbacks and mega-bookstores that until very recently books were luxury items. Those who could not afford to buy had to borrow, share, obtain secondhand, inherit, or listen to others reading. This book examines how people acquired and read books from the sixteenth century to the present, focusing on the personal relationships between readers and the volumes they owned. Margaret Willes considers a selection of private and public libraries across the period - most of which have survived - showing the diversity of book owners and borrowers, from country-house aristocrats to modest farmers, from Regency ladies of leisure to working men and women.Exploring the collections of avid readers such as Samuel Pepys, Thomas Jefferson, Sir John Soane, Thomas Bewick, and Denis and Edna Healey, Margaret Willes also investigates the means by which books were sold, lending fascinating insights into the ways booksellers and publishers marketed their wares. For those who are interested in books and reading, and especially those who treasure books, this one will inform, entertain, and inspire.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Illustrations
90 black & white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-300-12729-4 (9780300127294)
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
11/2008
1st Edition
Yale University Press
€59.95
Available for download
Person
Margaret Willes was Publisher for the National Trust, where she began its own imprint, in addition to writing and producing illustrated books. She lives in London.