British Publishing In The Eighteenth Century

There was a vigorous development of British publishing in the 18th century due to the peoples'pursuits of knowledge and culture.The flourish also result from the overall development of the society. The British Industrial Revolution broke out in the second half of 18th century. There is no doubt that the Revolution bring a lot of changes. Meanwhile it also has privided a rare opportunity for the booming of British publishing industry. Until now, Britain is a world-famous media power as well. Researching on the 18th century British publishing industry will help to not only be more comprehensive and detailed understanding of the social circumstances of Britain at that time, but also contribute to a deeper understanding of British culture.The text is divided into three parts, including prologue, main body and concluding remarks.The first chapter focuses on the prosperity of the British publishing industry. The section discusses the type and quantity of the publications, the distribution and circulation and the booksellers'wealths and their changes in the management. Through detailed datum and a series of specific examples, the part attempts to prove that there was an active publishing market in the 18th century. It is worth mentioning that booksellers have played an important role in the development of publishing industry. Even today, many publishing companies they established continue making a significant impact on the world.The second chapter is the main part of the study which discusses the reasons through three aspects related to the flourishing of publishing industry. They are the improvements on publishing technology, the changes of publishing circumstances and the increase in the number of the people who engaging in reading. The technology could't promote without the overall developments of social productive forces and the strengthening of creative awareness. Furthermore, the elimination of the institutional barriers provided a guarantee to the spread of different ideas and thoughts. More and more people are enable to access to books and periodicals and then a more mature and increasing expanding publishing market has been built up. The third chapter summarizes the impact of the publishing industry's prosperity. The birth of the circulating libraries and subscription libraries, the appearance of the independent newspapers and the spread of new ideas are the three main outcome of the flourishing. The text also emphasis on the publishing industry's effect on the society currently and on the future in terms of culture.