During the course of the nineteenth century, the British publishing industry was transformed as the commercial, technological and legal structures underpinning the production and distribution of books and periodicals changed rapidly. The period has long been viewed as having witnessed the birth of a mass reading public as educational reforms, revolutions in transport and communications, as well as the introduction of mechanised processes of production, increased the supply of printed matter and the demand for reading material. Books and periodicals became cheaper and the market for them increasingly international. New retail outlets emerged, and library provision of various kinds expanded. At the same time, changes in copyright legislation and the emerging professionalisation of authorship changed the way the publishing industry worked with the authors and other players in the book trade.

This four-volume collection brings together contemporary source material that charts the nature, timing and impact of these changes, and explores some of the key contexts and debates of the period. Each volume will present a documentary account of changes in the publishing industry from four distinct perspectives: production, commercial and business structures, legal structures, and readers and markets. This title will be of great interest to students and scholars of history and literature.