American literary publishing in the mid-nineteenth century
Subtitle: the business of Ticknor and Fields
By: Michael Winship.
Series: Cambridge studies in publishing and printing history
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Cambridge [England]; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
Subjects: Ticknor and Fields -- History -- 19th century.; Literature publishing -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; Literature publishing -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- History -- 19th century.
Description: This is a study of some of the central questions in literary publishing in mid-nineteenth-century North America and Britain, addressed through examination of the unusually rich archive of a unique publishing firm. Boston-based Ticknor and Fields, one of the preeminent literary publishers of its time, enjoyed close links with Britain, and also developed new production, distribution and marketing skills as the settlement of North America pushed ever further west. Michael Winship has studied the firm's business records and publications in detail: he reveals what Ticknor and Fields published, its costs of production, the ways it marketed and distributed its books, and the profits it made. Winship goes on to explore the implications of the firm's work for the book trade in general, and to show how an investigation of Ticknor and Fields enriches our understanding of the literary and cultural history of North America and Britain.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 228-238) and index.