History of the Book in America

In a period characterized by expanding markets, national consolidation, and social upheaval, print culture picked up momentum as the nineteenth century turned into the twentieth. Books, magazines, and newspapers were produced more quickly and more cheaply, reaching ever-increasing numbers of readers. Volume 4 of A History of the Book in America traces the complex, even contradictory consequences of these changes in the production, circulation, and use of print. Contributors to this volume explain that although mass production encouraged consolidation and standardization, readers increasingly adapted print to serve their own purposes, allowing for increased diversity in the midst of concentration and integration. Considering the book in larger social and cultural networks, essays address the rise of consumer culture, the extension of literacy and reading through schooling, the expansion of secondary and postsecondary education and the growth of the textbook industry, the growing influence of the professions and their dependence on print culture, and the history of relevant technology. As the essays here attest, the expansion of print culture between 1880 and 1940 enabled it to become part of Americans' everyday business, social, political, and religious lives. Contributors:Megan Benton, Pacific Lutheran UniversityPaul S. Boyer, University of Wisconsin-MadisonUna M. Cadegan, University of DaytonPhyllis Dain, Columbia UniversityJames P. Danky, University of Wisconsin-MadisonEllen Gruber Garvey, New Jersey City UniversityPeter Jaszi, American UniversityCarl F. Kaestle, Brown UniversityNicolas Kanellos, University of HoustonRichard L. Kaplan, ABC-Clio PublishingMarcel Chotkowski LaFollette, Washington, D.C.Elizabeth Long, Rice UniversityElizabeth McHenry, New York UniversitySally M. Miller, University of the PacificRichard Ohmann, Wesleyan UniversityJanice A. Radway, Duke UniversityJoan Shelley Rubin, University of RochesterJonathan D. Sarna, Brandeis UniversityCharles A. Seavey, University of Missouri, ColumbiaMichael Schudson, University of California, San DiegoWilliam Vance Trollinger Jr., University of DaytonRichard L. Venezky (1938-2004)James L. W. West III, Pennsylvania State UniversityWayne A. Wiegand, Florida State UniversityMichael Winship, University of Texas at AustinMartha Woodmansee, Case Western Reserve University