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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.
List of contents
Introduction; 1. Publishing history and Ticknor and Fields; 2. The business records of Ticknor and Fields; 3. The publications of Ticknor and Fields; 4. Production and Ticknor and Fields: paper; 5. Production and Ticknor and Fields (cont.): binding; 6. Distribution and Ticknor and Fields; 7. The profits of Ticknor and Fields; Conclusion; Appendix A. Distribution network of Ticknor and Fields in 1856; Appendix B. Ticknor and Fields publications, 1858-9.
Summary
Central questions in literary publishing in mid-nineteenth-century North America and Britain are addressed through study of the records of one of the pre-eminent publishers of the time. Michael Winship examines the unusually rich archives of Boston-based Ticknor and Fields, and explores its implications for literary and cultural history.
