David McKitterick. Readers in a Revolution: Bibliographical Change in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

This deeply researched and engaging book from David McKitterick is very much a continuation of his previous book The Invention of Rare Books: Private Interest and Public Memory, 1600–1840 (Cambridge, 2020). McKitterick’s focus segues in Readers in a Revolution: Bibliographical Change in the Nineteenth Century to ensuing developments in attitudes and access to old books during the period, with particular attention to England and France between the 1830s and 1890s. Book historians have focused on changes to the materiality of the book during this period, stemming from technological innovations that impacted its production, dissemination, and accessibility to readers. The socio-cultural impact of the Industrial Revolution in Britain in particular underlies this study. While McKitterick spends some time on shifts in literacy, changes in available leisure time for the working classes, and the cultural pursuits made possible by the public libraries movement and increased opening hours for museums and galleries, his focus here is the acquisition of books, particularly those classified as rare, amongst the great variety of collectors in mid-nineteenth-century Britain.