A History of the Book in America: Volume 2: An Extensive Republic: Print, Culture, and Society in the New Nation, 1790-1840

by Robert A. Gross (Editor), Mary Kelley (Editor)

Overview

Volume Two of A History of the Book in America documents the development of a distinctive culture of print in the new American republic.

Between 1790 and 1840 printing and publishing expanded, and literate publics provided a ready market for novels, almanacs, newspapers, tracts, and periodicals. Government, business, and reform drove the dissemination of print. Through laws and subsidies, state and federal authorities promoted an informed citizenry. Entrepreneurs responded to rising demand by investing in new technologies and altering the conduct of publishing. Voluntary societies launched libraries, lyceums, and schools, and relied on print to spread religion, redeem morals, and advance benevolent goals. Out of all this ferment emerged new and diverse communities of citizens linked together in a decentralized print culture where citizenship meant literacy and print meant power. Yet in a diverse and far-flung nation, regional differences persisted, and older forms of oral and handwritten communication offered alternatives to print. The early republic was a world of mixed media.

Contributors:
Elizabeth Barnes, College of William and Mary
Georgia B. Barnhill, American Antiquarian Society
John L. Brooke, The Ohio State University
Dona Brown, University of Vermont
Richard D. Brown, University of Connecticut
Kenneth E. Carpenter, Harvard University Libraries
Scott E. Casper, University of Nevada, Reno
Mary Kupiec Cayton, Miami University
Joanne Dobson, Brewster, New York
James N. Green, Library Company of Philadelphia
Dean Grodzins, Massachusetts Historical Society
Robert A. Gross, University of Connecticut
Grey Gundaker, College of William and Mary
Leon Jackson, University of South Carolina
Richard R. John, Columbia University
Mary Kelley, University of Michigan
Jack Larkin, Clark University
David Leverenz, University of Florida
Meredith L. McGill, Rutgers University
Charles Monaghan, Charlottesville, Virginia
E. Jennifer Monaghan, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York
Gerald F. Moran, University of Michigan-Dearborn
Karen Nipps, Harvard University
David Paul Nord, Indiana University
Barry O'Connell, Amherst College
Jeffrey L. Pasley, University of Missouri-Columbia
William S. Pretzer, Central Michigan University
A. Gregg Roeber, Pennsylvania State University
David S. Shields, University of South Carolina
Andie Tucher, Columbia University
Maris A. Vinovskis, University of Michigan
Sandra A. Zagarell, Oberlin College

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807895689
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	07/15/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	720
File size:	13 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Robert A. Gross is James L. and Shirley A. Draper Professor of Early American History at the University of Connecticut. He is author of The Minutemen and Their World. Mary Kelley is Ruth Bordin Collegiate Professor of History, American Culture, and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan. She is author or editor of several books, including Learning to Stand and Speak: Women, Education, and Public Life in America's Republic (UNC Press).

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

This volume provides a fascinating revisionist history of the United States through its focus on what was printed, how the economy of the book trades worked, who was reading, and what role reading came to assume in all sorts of people's lives. Editors Gross and Kelley make a strong team, and the contributors represent an array of disciplines suitable to the equally wide range of printed material in the United States between 1790 and 1840.—Patricia Crain, New York University

A magnificent achievement. Brilliant editing and graceful writing shatter many old assumptions about the world of the Founders. Linking intellectual history with politics, social change, and the distinctive experiences of women, African Americans and Indians, An Extensive Republic is the rare reference book that is also a mesmerizing read.—Linda K. Kerber, author of No Constitutional Right to Be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship

This impressive collaborative effort by two dozen leading authorities in the field will be essential reading for any serious student of the history of American publishing and print culture during one of its most crucially transformative periods.—Lawrence Buell, Harvard University

Editorial Reviews

With thirty-two contributors, this volume is a feat of compilation and editing.—Times Literary Supplement



These superb essays convey the extraordinary range of possibilities in Americans' interactions with print between 1790 and 1840.—Journal of American History



The scholarship is up-to-date in every way, as the contributors (many leading scholars on their subject) look at every facet—human and machine—of producing the written word. . . . Gross and Kelley provide lucid, helpful overviews in their introductions to the book as a whole and to its six sections. No other single book offers such a rich and comprehensive analysis of how the written word helped shape antebellum America, and the series as a whole is magnificent. . . . Essential.—Choice



Has a remarkable unity of voice, its sections elegantly knitted together by thoughtful introductions. . . . Both lay and academic readers . . . [will] be rewarded with the feeling of truly understanding the era, benefiting from both broad strokes and fine details.—Library Journal



A model of scholarly publication and institutional cooperation. . . . A timely achievement and a great one. . . . Without university presses, we would still be waiting for HBA.—Journal of Scholarly Publishing



The decision to plumb as many themes of print culture as possible, coupled with the skillful use of various rhetorical devices . . . has produced a volume that meets the challenge of coming to grips with a history of American printing that is more variegated than in any other society or culture of the period. . . . Eminently successful, and as in all good history it flings open doors for new avenues of research and understanding." —Printing History



What the History of the Book series shows so clearly is that the world we know, the communities to which we already belong, are reified and reinforced by books. Such is the incredible and incredibly flexible power of this primitive technology. Behold the book: It is limited but perfect.—Humanities magazine



Beautifully-designed with frequent illustrations, a very well-chosen font, and rich source notes. . . . All involved should be justly proud of their creation. . . . This and its companion volumes are an indispensable resource.—PhiloBiblos Blog



A remarkable work . . . . For scholars interested in this important period of transition, An Extensive Republic is required reading.—Sharp News



A standard reference work that every university library will want to acquire.—Journal of Southern History

From the Publisher

A model of scholarly publication and institutional cooperation. . . . A timely achievement and a great one. . . . Without university presses, we would still be waiting for HBA.

Journal of Scholarly Publishing

With thirty-two contributors, this volume is a feat of compilation and editing.

Times Literary Supplement

What the History of the Book series shows so clearly is that the world we know, the communities to which we already belong, are reified and reinforced by books. Such is the incredible and incredibly flexible power of this primitive technology. Behold the book: It is limited but perfect.

Humanities magazine

The decision to plumb as many themes of print culture as possible, coupled with the skillful use of various rhetorical devices . . . has produced a volume that meets the challenge of coming to grips with a history of American printing that is more variegated than in any other society or culture of the period. . . . Eminently successful, and as in all good history it flings open doors for new avenues of research and understanding.

Printing History

A remarkable work . . . . For scholars interested in this important period of transition, An Extensive Republic is required reading.

Sharp News

The scholarship is up-to-date in every way, as the contributors (many leading scholars on their subject) look at every facet—human and machine—of producing the written word. . . . Gross and Kelley provide lucid, helpful overviews in their introductions to the book as a whole and to its six sections. No other single book offers such a rich and comprehensive analysis of how the written word helped shape antebellum America, and the series as a whole is magnificent. . . . Essential.

Choice

Beautifully-designed with frequent illustrations, a very well-chosen font, and rich source notes. . . . All involved should be justly proud of their creation. . . . This and its companion volumes are an indispensable resource.

PhiloBiblos Blog

A standard reference work that every university library will want to acquire.

Journal of Southern History

These superb essays convey the extraordinary range of possibilities in Americans' interactions with print between 1790 and 1840.

Journal of American History