Jump to content
What is book history?
- Book history is an interdisciplinary field that examines the production, circulation, and reception of script and print. It treats books as material objects and textual forms shaped by social, economic, technological, and cultural forces. Drawing on history, literary studies, bibliography, and media studies, book history is concerned with the practices of authorship, editing, printing, publishing, and distribution, as well as related institutions such as the book trade, libraries, and educational systems. The field examines formats such as journals, periodicals, newspapers, and ephemera, and regulatory frameworks for knowledge production including copyright and censorship. Central to book history is the study of reading practices and reader responses, emphasizing how texts acquire meaning through processes of mediation, circulation, and analysis.
