READING MATTERS

FIVE CENTURIES OF DISCOVERING BOOKS
By (author)MARGARET WILLES

 6,922

An entertaining journey through five centuries of acquiring, reading, and enjoying books in Britain and America

It is easy to forget in our own day of cheap paperbacks and mega-bookstores that, until very recently, books were luxury items. Those who could not afford to buy had to borrow, share, obtain secondhand, inherit, or listen to others reading. This book examines how people acquired and read books from the sixteenth century to the present, focusing on the personal relationships between readers and the volumes they owned. Margaret Willes considers a selection of private and public libraries across the period-most of which have survived-showing the diversity of book owners and borrowers, from country-house aristocrats to modest farmers, from Regency ladies of leisure to working men and women.

Exploring the collections of avid readers such as Samuel Pepys, Thomas Jefferson, Sir John Soane, Thomas Bewick, and Denis and Edna Healey, Margaret Willes also investigates the means by which books were sold, lending fascinating insights into the ways booksellers and publishers marketed their wares. For those who are interested in books and reading, and especially those who treasure books, this book and its bounty of illustrations will inform, entertain, and inspire.
ISBN: 9780300164046
Publisher: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Subtitle: FIVE CENTURIES OF DISCOVERING BOOKS
Author: MARGARET WILLES

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SKU: 9780300164046
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Weight 0.56 kg
ISBN

9780300164046

Format

Publication Date

2008

Pages

295

Author

Author Description

Margaret Willes, the former Publisher for the National Trust, has written and illustrated numerous books. She lives in London.

Publisher

Language