An international trade emerged between 1870-1895 that incorporated the circulation of books among countries worldwide. A history of the social network and select agents who sold and distributed books overseas, this study demonstrates agents increasingly thought of the world as a negotiable, connected system and books as transnational commodities.

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Reviews

'This is an absolutely first-rate work at the very cutting edge of book history research, which for the last few years has been increasingly turning away from national models towards the international trade. Despite this, there exists at present no concerted account of the vast expansion in global publishing during the closing phases of British imperialism. At the moment we have specialised accounts of particular firms, but nothing that brings all these accounts together into a concerted overview of the whole nexus: the 'tangled network' of international trade at a vital period in its expansion. This book does all of that, enabling us to view each strand as part of a world tapestry. It is scrupulously researched. It is superbly written. Theoretically as well as empirically sophisticated, it engages intelligently with the most rewarding debates going on in book history at the present time. It is, in fine, a must.' - Professor Robert Fraser, Open University, UK

About the author

ALISON RUKAVINA teaches in the English and Film Studies Department at the University of Alberta, Canada, where she completed her PhD in 2007.

Bibliographic Information

Book Title: The Development of the International Book Trade, 1870-1895
Book Subtitle: Tangled Networks
Authors: Alison Rukavina
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230295032
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature Collection, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-230-27563-8Published: 29 October 2010
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-32495-8Published: 01 January 2010
eBook ISBN: 978-0-230-29503-2Published: 29 October 2010
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VIII, 182
Topics: Imperialism and Colonialism, Cultural History, Literature, general, Literary Theory, Cultural Theory, Nineteenth-Century Literature

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

Front Matter

Introduction

Social Networks

Developing Distribution Channels and the Social Network

Piracy, Copyright, and the International Book Trade

The International Book Trade

The Colonial Booksellers’ Agency

Conclusion

Back Matter

About this book