A Study of the Book Trade - Book Distribution Network in 8th and 19th Century England

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For the past three years I spent summer vacations in Oxford reading and collecting materials -related to my research. I also used the British Library and other places also attending several conferences. So far I have written essays on these topics.(1) The spread of newspapers, and magazines in reference to coffee houses.(2) Circulating libraries and the growth of reading public.(3) The provincial booktrade and book clubs.(4) The lower class reader and the chapbooks.(5) The birth of the book reviews.Related to these topics I am now interested in the distribution network of books published in 18th century. In my view (and this has been proved by a few distinguished scholars.) the newspaper owners and their agents played a considerably significant role in distributing not only newspapers (published weekly in the provinces) but also the books publislred in London. They had a close relation with London publishers and the books were carried by a small boat or a cart. On reaching the newspaper owners, books were displayed in their shops for the customers to browse or buy. To the customers living away from the city center, books were delivered by what is called newsboys usually by riding horses. Proper distributing network of published books were established in early 19th century when the publisher and bookseller began to be separated from each other claiming their own right. These studies will be published hereafter, the first installment of which has been already published and the second is forthcoming.