Faith in reading
Subtitle: religious publishing and the birth of mass media in America
By: David Paul Nord.
Series: Religion in America series; Religion in America series (Oxford University Press)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Oxford; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 212
Subjects: American Tract Society -- History -- 19th century; American Bible Society -- History -- 19th century; Bible -- Publication and distribution -- Societies, etc. -- United States -- History -- 19th century; Religious literature -- Publishing -- United States -- History -- 19th century; Tract societies -- United States -- History -- 19th century; Christians -- Books and reading -- United States -- History -- 19th century; Books and reading -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Description: "Faith in Reading tells the story of the noncommercial religious origins of our modern media culture." "Drawing on organizational reports and archival sources, David Paul Nord shows how the managers of Bible and religious tract societies made themselves into large-scale manufacturers and distributors of print. These organizations believed it was possible to place the same printed message into the hands of every man, woman, and child in America. Employing modern printing technologies and business methods, they were remarkably successful, churning out millions of Bibles, tracts, religious books, and periodicals. They mounted massive campaigns to make books cheap and plentiful by turning them into modern, mass-produced consumer goods. Nord demonstrates how religious publishers learned to work against the flow of ordinary commerce. They believed that reading was too important to be left to the "market revolution," so they turned the market on its head, seeking to deliver their product to everyone, regardless of ability or even desire to buy. Wedding modern technology and national organization to a traditional faith in reading, these publishing societies imagined and then invented mass media in America."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [165]-205) and index.