English Books & Readers 1603-1640 : Being a Study in the History of the Book Trade in the Reigns of James I and Charles I

Cambridge University Press, second edition, 1970. Cloth, 8vo, 23 cm,. xiv, 253 pp. From the blurb: "The first two volumes of English Books and Readers surveyed the history of the book trade from Caxton to the end of the reign of Elizabeth I, The third (and final) volume carries the story down to the eve of the Civil War. Mr Bennett's purpose is to give an account of the total output of books and pamphlets in the period, irrespective of their qualities as literature. 'What matters in this enquiry', he writes, 'is the nature of the subject-matter and the demand that it set out to meet.' Again, Mr Bennett reveals a picture of astonishing variety and fertility. He assembles in categories the different kinds of books in circulation, and by gleaning hints and insights from prefaces and dedicatory letters, tries to establish why these books were written and what sort of audience they were intended to interest or amuse. He shows how printers, booksellers and their allies made books available to the reading public, and he also examines the relations between authors and their patrons. As in the previous volumes, Mr Bennett presents a full picture of the book trade and the part it played in the intellectual and cultural life of the age." From a contemporary review: "is packed with interesting and important material, much of it culled from the disarmingly chatty and confessional prefaces of the period... the account of attitudes to print, and the survey of 'the variety of books' (which must have meant nightmare labours), help to make this book as a whole an admirable survey of the 'print-culture' of England at a particularly vital time. Publisher's stickers on inside flap of dustwrapper, otherwise Very Good in dustwrapper.