Academia.eduAcademia.edu

History of Books, Printing, and Publishing

description1,968 papers
group690 followers
lightbulbAbout this topic
The history of books, printing, and publishing examines the development and evolution of written works, the technologies and methods used for their reproduction, and the cultural, social, and economic impacts of these processes on society from ancient times to the present.
lightbulbAbout this topic
The history of books, printing, and publishing examines the development and evolution of written works, the technologies and methods used for their reproduction, and the cultural, social, and economic impacts of these processes on society from ancient times to the present.

Key research themes

1. How did cross-regional and linguistic networks influence the evolution and dissemination of printing and publishing technologies in the 16th to early 20th centuries?

This theme explores the historical and transregional dynamics that affected the development of printing technologies and publishing practices from the early modern period through the early 20th century. It foregrounds the relationship between printers, translators, and scholars across geographic and linguistic boundaries, emphasizing how these networks shaped print cultures, including the circulation of Orientalist texts, religious literature, and early scientific works. Understanding these interactions is crucial as they reveal the non-linear, complex pathways through which books, ideas, and material culture traveled, thereby influencing intellectual and cultural histories beyond Eurocentric narratives.

Key finding: This paper reveals that early 19th-century British Calcutta emerged as a principal hub for Arabic printing, predating major Middle Eastern presses like Bulaq in Cairo. Indian and European scholars collaborated to edit and... Read more
Key finding: The study details the productive role of Stanisław Murmelius in reviving and sustaining the Bieraście printing house from 1558 to at least 1563, during which it became a major center of Protestant (Calvinist and Arian)... Read more
Key finding: This article reconstructs the commercial and intellectual networks underpinning the Cairo-based Maṭbaʿa Salafiyya publishing house founded by Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Khaṭīb and ʿAbdal-Fattāḥ Qatlān around 1919. Through archival... Read more
Key finding: This paper traces the origins of the Bieraście printing house to 1553 under patronage of Mikalaj Radzivil, highlighting its foundational role in disseminating Lutheran catechetical literature within Belarus and the Grand... Read more
Key finding: The project offers a bibliographical and case-study based analysis of Latin as a central target language for translations in the early modern period, situating religious, political, and cultural motivations behind such... Read more

2. What roles did print and publishing play in shaping cultural identities and political ideologies in the 19th and early 20th centuries?

This theme investigates how printing and book publishing practices influenced the construction of cultural and national identities, as well as political discourses, especially during periods of colonialism, post-revolutionary nation-building, and intellectual awakening. By focusing on specific case studies including Black independent publishing in the U.S., postrevolutionary Mexican Neocolonial aesthetics in publishing, and Soviet-era translation planning in Ukraine, this line of research reveals the agency of print in both reflecting and molding ideological debates and collective memories. Understanding these dynamics helps elucidate the interaction between publishing infrastructures and political-cultural movements.

Key finding: This study demonstrates that early 20th-century Black independent publishers like Sutton E. Griggs and Oscar Micheaux used commission presses to create alternative political and literary spaces distinct from both mainstream... Read more
Key finding: This paper uncovers how postrevolutionary Mexican artists and cultural figures engaged the country’s colonial visual legacy—manifested in printing and publishing aesthetics—to negotiate national identity amidst emerging... Read more
Key finding: Through archival analysis, this paper reveals the dual nature of Ukrainian translation planning during the early 1930s, a period marked by both a flourishing translation industry and increasing Soviet censorship. It... Read more
Key finding: This book review and analysis situates mid-19th-century American book collecting within evolving cultural ideologies surrounding bibliomania and associative value. It details how collectors purchased books for their historic... Read more

3. How did technological, material, and linguistic practices in print shape knowledge production and dissemination across cultures from the early modern to modern eras?

This theme focuses on the materiality of print technologies, translation practices, and linguistic decisions as critical factors in the production and circulation of knowledge. It covers topics such as print media material innovations, translation into Latin and vernaculars, and printing practices for minority languages and scripts. By analyzing these aspects, the research elucidates the nuanced interplay between print technology, linguistic strategy, and knowledge validation, emphasizing the diverse modalities through which printed knowledge was codified and diffused across cultural frontiers.

Key finding: This edited volume reveals the extensive use and cultural significance of handmade blue paper (carta azzurra) in the Veneto region during the early 16th century, documenting its deployment in drawings, etchings, and printed... Read more
Key finding: This paper investigates a sixteenth-century epistemic tension in Chinese pharmacopoeias between ambitions for encyclopedic comprehensiveness and the pragmatic need for selectivity. By comparing major bencao texts, it... Read more
Key finding: This study analyzes the complex editorial and publication history of the first European printed translation of the Confucian Classic 'Chou King' by Jesuit missionaries. It highlights the political, scholarly, and... Read more
Key finding: By examining the transcription-heavy personal diaries of 1950s Chinese cadres, this paper argues that diary copying functioned as a mnemonic and educational tool rather than as a record for future consultation. Positioned... Read more

All papers in History of Books, Printing, and Publishing

La metapolitica può essere definita come la scienza dei limiti, delle regolarità e dell’ironia. Limiti ai progetti spesso utopici dell’uomo, derivanti da comportamenti, sul piano politico e sociale, che, prescindendo dagli esiti, si... more
This essay examines the transition from traditional patronage to the decentralized cultural ecosystems of Web3 and the metaverse. It argues that culture has evolved from an aesthetic refuge into a participatory infrastructure where... more
Ciceró védjegye A „Ciceró védjegye” kifejezés a védjegyjog szempontjából különleges jelentőséggel bír. A védjegy alapvető funkciói közé tartozik a megkülönböztetőképesség, az eredetjelzés és a fogyasztóvédelem. A Ciceró névhez kötött... more
Maria Luisa Righini Bonelli è stata una figura di spicco nel panorama della storia della scienza internazionale. È stata principalmente ricordata per il suo eccezionale impegno nella museologia storico-scientifica e per il suo ruolo... more
The Roman Inquisition or Holy Office of the Inquisition was the network of tribunals which, following the reorganization decreed by the bull Licet ab initio (21 July 1542) of Paul III, dealt with the repression of heresy and the control... more
In Falks nieuwskaartenserie kwamen zeer actuele onderwerpen aan bod, zoals Verdeeld Duitsland en Israël 15 jaar. Maar de actualiteit maakte elke schoolwandkaart ook snel onverkoopbaar. Strijdperk Zuidoost-Azië, geredigeerd door dé... more
The article explores the possibility of establishing a historical basis for the existing artistic representations of Ostafy Dashkovych, a prominent statesman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the first third of the 16th century. Methods.... more
No hay que olvidar que la difusión de las relaciones mediante la lectura pública, que puede suponerse cada vez más frecuente a medida que avanza la Edad Moderna y los ciegos se van apoderando del mercado, permite suponer índices de... more
 Este trabajo se inserta dentro del Grup d'estudi de les institucions i de les cultures polítiques (segles XVI-XXI) (2021 SGR 00924) y del grupo de investigación La paz de Viena (1725): cambio en las alianzas internacionales, fin de la... more
© Presses universitaires de Rennes. Ce document est réservé à un usage privé. Il ne peut être transmis sans autorisation de l'éditeur. © Presses universitaires de Rennes. Ce document est réservé à un usage privé. Il ne peut être transmis... more
Ambivalente, la sorcière cristallise les fantasmes masculins sous forme d’icône érotisée dotée d’une éternelle jeunesse s’opposant ainsi à la vieille femme laide des contes et illustrations. Pour des artistes majoritairement masculins, la... more
Occorrono troppe vite per farne una». Mary de Rachewiltz, che il 9 luglio ha compiuto il suo primo secolo di vita (è nata a Bressanone il 9 luglio 1925), ha sempre amato questo verso di Montale, l'ultimo di L'estate, nelle Occasioni.... more
Marinelli (Discografie di compositori italiani: registrazioni sonore e testi musicali). Nell'ultimo "canone" dedicato alla formazione, alle biblioteche musicali e ai sistemi di informazione bibliografico-musicali italiani, i saggi di... more
Entre los enfoques sobre la modernidad hispánica que han cobrado reciente vitalidad se encuentra, indudablemente, el campo de estudios concerniente a las publicaciones periódicas, quizás porque es una zona menos trillada en los estudios... more
L’articolo analizza un romanzo di Carlo Coccioli, La notte di ballo, conservato presso la Biblioteca Marucelliana di Firenze. Completato nel 1949, il testo è ancora inedito in Italia, sebbene sia stato pubblicato in francese da... more
This article examines the factors that enabled French merchants to enter the Spanish Indies markets during the 1620s, particularly in the period betwen the Peace of Monzón (1627) and the outbreak of the Franco-Spanish War (1635). It... more
Volem aprofitar l'oportunitat que ens ofereix la jornada divulgativa organitzada pel Centre d'Estudis del Bages, l'Arxiu Comarcal i l'Associació Catalana de Documentació Històrica Patrimonial i Familiar per a donar a conèixer la tasca... more
Gaius 3. 145: Adeo autem emptio et venditio et locatio et conductio familiaritatem aliquam inter se habere videntur, ut in quibusdam causis quaeri soleat, utrum emptio et venditio contrahatur, an locatio et conductio. "Úgy látszik pedig,... more
The Chrudim printing house was one of the most important producers of broadside ballad sheets in the 19th century. However, at the time of the printers Josef Jan Košina and his wife Františka, a significant part of the production did not... more
Gyulai Éva "Habet suum fatum libellus" Daróczy Ferenc prágai nyomtatványa (Vera descriptio rerum in Transsylvania post Moldavicam expeditionem gestarum, Prága, 1600)*
Osmanlı dünyasında kitap ve okuma kültürü, yalnızca elit kesime özgü bir faaliyet olmaktan öte, farklı toplumsal katmanlara yayılan bir pratikti. Bu panel, kitap üretimi, dolaşımı ve okunma biçimleri üzerine yapılan güncel araştırmalardan... more
Il contributo mira a evidenziare alcuni punti di contatto fra gli anni di Sabina Magrini alla Biblioteca Palatina di Parma (2012-2015) e il progetto ‘ORIGO: Alle origini delle Biblioteca Palatina di Parma: il mercato librario toscano e... more
In the autumn of 1985 I conceived the idea to engrave the twelve animals of the Chinese Year. The animal form lends itself well to the medium of burin engraving on copper, where the natural action of the arm muscles, as it encounters the... more
En febrero de 2025 conversé con Jacobo Zanella y Mauricio Sánchez, fundadores de la  editorial Gris Tormenta. Es una entrevista muy completa y con más contexto que otras.
Few works in medical history met with the success of Pietro Andrea Mattioli's Discorsi. The text, especially in its Latin and illustrated translations (1554 onwards), became the bible on which generations of botanists and physicians were... more
This article examines several libraries assembled by the Society of Jesus in their college and missions in Northern Mexico (in the present-day Mexican State of Chihuahua), where Jesuits have been a constant presence from the seventeenth... more
This paper stemms from two correlated projects, namely "Tibetan Book Evolution and Technology" and "Transforming Technologies and Buddhist Book Culture: The Introduction of Printing and Digital Text Reproduction in Tibetan Societies",... more
Охарактеризовано пам’ятники Т. Г. Шевченку в с. Диканька (Полтавщина) та подано інформацію про людей селища, пов’язаних із алізацією його образу (Олекса Діхтяр, Георгій Кушніренко, Леонід Ільченко).
Reflection on performing Charles Butler's 17th Century Bee Madrigal, Melissomelos: "While revisiting his first encounter with Melissomelos, Simon Jackson explores his approach in performing Butler's song of Bees. Part of the Leverhulme... more
書評 李惠儀Wai-yee  Li《明清文學中的女子與國難》
Reviews Women  and  National  Trauma  in  Late  Imperial  Chinese  Literature
SAGGI Alessandro Benassi, Secentismo visuale nelle intestazioni dell’edizione illustrata dei «Promessi sposi»; Sandra Carapezza, Con la famiglia. Figure dell’infanzia nei «Promessi sposi»; David Gibbons, «Irrelevant to the story, and too... more
Tien portretten van Galenus Abrahamsz worden uitvoerig besproken. De makers zijn onder anderen Michiel van Musscher (een schilderij op doek: p. 179, en een prent in zwarte kunst: p. 180), Nicolaas Verkolje (een aquarel met Chinese inkt,... more
After receiving his doctorate in medicine from Leiden University, Galenus Abrahamsz worked as a physician in Amsterdam. There he also served as a teacher (unpaid minister) for the Mennonite congregation in the still existing Singel... more
We Hampshire folk are proud of our Hampshire worthies, but I wonder how often we stop to ask ourselves what they really did for our county apart from being born or residing here. You could certainly ask that question about Charlotte... more
Download research papers for free!