Thursday, February 14, 2008

NEW BOOK
The Work of Print: Authorship and the English Text Trades, 1660--1760

(University of Washington Press, January 2008)
Lisa Maruca

"The Work of Print" traces a shift in the very definition of literature, from one that encompasses the material conditions of the production and distribution of books to the more familiar emphasis on the solitary author's ownership of an abstract text. Drawing on contemporary accounts of printers, booksellers, publishers, and distributors, the author examines attitudes about the creative process and approaches to the commodification of writing.

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