:"chap-book" redirects here. for the 19th-century american magazine, see the chap-book.  a chapbook is an early type of popular literature printed in early modern europe. the tradition of chapbooks arose in the 16th century, as soon as printed books became affordable, and rose to its height during the 17th and 18th centuries. many different kinds of ephemera and popular or folk literature were published as chapbooks, such as almanacs, children's literature, folk tales, nursery rhymes, pamphlets, poetry, and political and religious tracts. when illustrations are included in chapbooks, they are considered popular prints. the term "chapbook" for this type of literature was coined in the 19th century. the corresponding french and german terms are bibliothÃ¨que bleue (blue book) and volksbuch, respectively.from chapmen, chap, a variety of peddler, which folks circulated such literature as part of their stock.  the term "chapbook" is also in use for present-day publications, usually poetry, of up to about 40 pages, ranging from low-cost productions to expensive, finely produced editions. ==etymology== chapbook is first attested in english in 1824, and seems to derive from the word for the itinerant salesmen who would sell such books: chapman. the first element of chapman comes in turn from old english cÄap ('barter, business, dealing').oxford english dictionary, s.vv. chap-book, n. and chapman, n.. ==history==  broadside ballads were popular songs, sold for a penny or halfpenny in the streets of towns and villages around britain between the 16th century and early 20th centuries. they preceded chapbooks, but had similar content, marketing and distribution systems. there are records from cambridgeshire as early as in 1553 of a man offering a scurrilous ballad "maistres mass" at an alehouse, and a pedlar selling "lytle books" to people, including a patcher of old clothes in 1578. these sales are probably characteristic of the market for chapbooks. chapbooks gradually disappeared from
Early_Modern_literature