English Literature

A trade newsweekly for the UK and international book industry. Provides independent, practical market and business intelligence to help readers become more profitable. Audience includes publishers, booksellers, librarians, authors, and allied industries and interests.

The Bookseller has been the business magazine of the book industry since 1858; incorporating the even earlier Bent's Literary Advertiser, established in 1802. It is one of the UK’s longest-standing magazines. We've reported on every significant book trade event, from the launch of George Eliot's Mill on the Floss in 1860 to Allen Lane’s launch of the paperback to the demise of the Net Book Agreement in 1995 and today’s Amazon-led competitive struggles.

The British History of books, which started in the early Middles Ages and continues to date, comprises not only the establishment of printed books in Great Britain, but also the import and buying of them. The private ownership of printed books is up to now a barely investigated question. Margaret Lane Ford addresses herself to this task in respect of the private ownership of printed books in the late 15th and early 16th century. For a contribution to The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain she has gathered evidences of provenances for the time period in question from over 4300 printed works in the past, books in private ownership had a high practical value and were of importance for the professionalism. Classical and theological texts were indispensable for the university-educated and the students, while technical works were needed by merchants and handcrafters.

Other owners of books were for example the monasteries, who used books in their scriptoria and the gentry, who had the means to acquire books for mere luxury.

The database is published by the Consortium of European Research Libraries.

Including The Chapman and Myllar Prints held at the National Library of Scotland

The Heritage of the Printed Book Database (previously called the Hand Press Book Database) is a steadily growing collection of files of catalogue records from major European and North American research libraries covering items of European printing of the hand-press period (c.1455-c.1830) integrated into one file. This makes it possible for information to be retrieved in one single search across all files. Updated annually.

Over 6 million records from the beginning of printing to mid 19th century. A list of contributors can be found at https://www.cerl.org/resources/hpb/content

Explore this unique archive relating to the history of printing, publishing and bookselling dating from 1554 to the 20th century. The Stationers’ Company was a key agent in the process by which the book trade was regulated and monitored and thus it is widely regarded as one of the most important sources for studying the history of the book, publishing history, the history of copyright and the workings of an early London Livery Company.

Nineteenth Century Literary Society offers unprecedented digital access to the peerless archive of the historic John Murray publishing company, and is an unparalleled resource for nineteenth century culture and the literary luminaries who shaped it.

Held by the National Library of Scotland since 2006 and added to the UNESCO Register of World Memory in 2011, the Murray collection comprises one of the world’s most important literary archives.

This digital resource enables researchers to discover the golden age of the company that published genre-defining titles including Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, Austen’s Emma, and Livingstone’s Missionary Travels.

Key figures who feature in the Archive include, Jane Austen, Isabella Bird, Lord Byron, Charles Darwin, Benjamin Disraeli, Elizabeth Eastlake, William Gladstone, David Livingstone, and Sir Walter Scott.

The Scottish Book Trade Index lists the names, trades and addresses of people involved in printing in Scotland up to 1850. It covers: Printers, Publishers, Booksellers, Bookbinders, Printmakers, Stationers, and Papermakers. The database is published by the Consortium of European Research Libraries.

A single-volume reference work, the Directory was published in 1893 under the direction of Sir William Robertson Nicoll, founding editor of The Bookman magazine. Aimed at those involved in the book trade or engaged in literary study, it provides information about the three major facets of the publishing industry referred to in its title. In sum, The Bookman Directory offers indispensable data about the individuals and organisations active in the book trade in the late-nineteenth century and provides a snapshot of the industry at this time.