British Populace's Reading In The 17th-18th Century

During the 17 th and 18 th centuries,the Britain were experiencing critical period of social and political transformation.In this period of social change,public reading plays an important role.It is an effective means for interest groups to mobilize the public,which is also an important way for the public to know about political parties and social events.At the same time,it is also a prerequisite for expressing political demands,participating in political activities such as petitions and rallies.To some extent,reading by the people can be regarded as the foundation of democratic politics.This paper is divided into four parts.The first part analyzes the conditions of the rise of reading and the reading needs of the British people in the 17 th and 18 th centuries.First of all,people's living standards have improved so that people can buy books for reading.Secondly,it is the development of modern British education that has boosted people's literacy rate.Third,the advancement of printing technology and the reform of the modern British publishing system have brought the book publishing and trading market to prosperity.The second part introduces the British people's reading in the 17 th and 18 th centuries,and explains the relationship between these reading materials,especially the chapbooks,newspapers and pamphlets.The third part describes the reading function of coffeehouse and library and its status in the public reading.The specific manifestations are academic exchanges among scholars in the coffeehouse communication between ordinary people,and people reading books in different kinds of libraries.The fourth part explores the internal relationship between public reading and the political development of the British parliament.Exploring these questions is conducive to understanding the development path of publishing in modern Britain,the changes in the history of reading,and the process of British democracy.