From New York to Shanghai: Global Modernism, Cheap Reprint Series and Copyright

Abstract

This article focuses on the international expansion of modern literature in the early twentieth century through the examples of cheap reprint series published in the United States (the Modern Library), Britain (the Phoenix Library), and Continental Europe (Albatross). Since these series published all kinds of texts (‘high’, ‘low’, and ‘middlebrow’), ‘modern literature’ is defined broadly, to include difficult modernist texts and popular literature. Cheap reprint series created in the fifteen years from 1917 to 1932 opened up new markets for texts by James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and other writers previously associated with little magazines and small presses. Books have no borders, copyright issues aside. And copyright proved a big headache for the owners of these series, leading to honest mistakes and serious disagreements. The story of modernism as an international product sold to the world is not complete without an overview of copyright issues. The central argument is that copyright problems limited the reach of cheap reprint series and slowed down the international expansion of the new literature. It is not a coincidence that one of the most dynamic markets for modern literature was the Far East, where Anglophone publishers could trade books without restrictions. Continental Europe is another example of a market where the low barriers to access stimulated intense competition and the launch of innovative series such as Albatross Modern Continental Library.