An extensive republic : print, culture, and society in the new nation, 1790-1840

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

• Contributors p. xiii
• Editors' and Authors' Acknowledgments p. xvii
• Introduction: An Extensive Republic p. 1 Robert A. Gross
• Section I A Republic in Print: Ideologies and Institutions
• Introduction p. 53 Mary Kelley
• Chapter 1 The Revolution's Legacy for the History of the Book p. 58 Richard D. Brown
• Chapter 2 The Book Trades in the New Nation
• Part 1 The Rise of Book Publishing p. 75 James N. Green
• Part 2 Case Study: Harper & Brothers p. 128 Scott E. Casper
• Part 3 Case Study: Urban Printing p. 137 Karen Nipps
• Part 4 "Printing is something every village has in it": Rural Printing and Publishing p. 145 Jack Larkin
• Part 5 "Of the paper cap and inky apron": Journeymen Printers p. 160 William S. Pretzer
• Section II Spreading the Word in Print
• Introduction p. 175 Mary Kelley
• Chapter 3 Government and Law
• Part 1 Print and Politics p. 179 John L. Brooke
• Part 2 Have Pen, Will Travel: The Times and Life of John Norvell, Political Journalist p. 190 Jeffrey L. Pasley
• Part 3 Copyright p. 198 Meredith L. McGill
• Part 4 Expanding the Realm of Communications p. 211 Richard R. John
• Chapter 4 Benevolent Books: Printing, Religion, and Reform p. 221 David Paul Nord
• Chapter 5 The Learned World p. 247 David S. Shields
• Section III Educating the Citizenry
• Introduction p. 269 Mary Kelley
• Chapter 6 Libraries and Schools
• Part 1 Libraries p. 273 Kenneth E. Carpenter
• Part 2 Schools p. 286 Gerald F. Moran and Maris A. Vinovskis
• Part 3 Schoolbooks p. 304 Charles Monaghan and E. Jennifer Monaghan
• Part 4 Colleges and Print Culture p. 318 Dean Grodzins and Leon Jackson
• Part 5 Female Academies and Seminaries and Print Culture p. 332 Mary Kelley
• Section IV Gendering Authorship and Audiences
• Introduction p. 347 Mary Kelley
• Chapter 7 Men Writing in the Early Republic p. 350 David Leverenz
• Chapter 8 Women Writing in the Early Republic p. 364 Joanne Dobson and Sandra A. Zagarell
• Section V Generes of Print
• Introduction p. 385 Mary Kelley
• Chapter 9 Periodical Press: Newspapers, Magazines, and Reviews
• Part 1 Newspapers and Periodicals p. 389 Andie Tucher
• Part 2 Harriet Newell's Story: Women, the Evangelical Press, and the Foreign Mission Movement p. 408 Mary Kupiec Cayton
• Part 3 Making Friends at the Southern Literary Messenger p. 416 Leon Jackson
• Chapter 10 Word and Image
• Part 1 Transformations in Pictorial Printing p. 422 Georgia B. Barnhill
• Part 2 Novels p. 440 Elizabeth Barnes
• Part 3 Travel Books p. 449 Dona Brown
• Part 4 Biography p. 458 Scott E. Casper
• Section VI New Reading and Writing Publics
• Introduction p. 467 Mary Kelley
• Chapter 11 Making Communities in Print
• Part 1 Readers and Writers of German p. 471 A. Gregg Roeber
• Part 2 Give Me a Sign: African Americans, Print, and Practice p. 483 Grey Gundaker
• Part 3 Literacy and Colonization: The Case of the Cherokees p. 495 Barry O'Connell
• Chapter 12 Reading for an Extensive Republic p. 516 Robert A. Gross
• Bibliography and the AAS Catalog: A Note on Tables p. 545 Robert A. Gross
• Notes p. 551
• Index p. 669