Readers in a Revolution

David McKitterick is Emeritus Honorary Professor of Historical Bibliography at the University of Cambridge. He is the general editor of The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain Volume VI: 1830-1914 (Cambridge University Press, 2009). His most recent monograph, based on the Panizzi lectures delivered at the British Library, is The Invention of Rare Books (Cambridge University Press, 2018).

• 1. Introduction; 2. Re-shaping the world; 3. Books in abundance; 4. Celebrating print: Libraries; 5. Access: National Collections; 6. The British Museum Commission, 1847-50; 7. Libraries in confusion; 8. Collaboration: Trading and Collecting; 9. The trade in second-hand books; 10. Private collectors and the public: Books in Detail; 11. Writing in books; 12. Bookbinding: Books on Show; 13. Reproduction; 14. Exhibitions: Another Generation; 15. Changes in direction; 16. Advice and guidance; 17. Standing back; 18. The next generation; Conclusion; 19. Then and now.

'In this erudite, wide-ranging book David McKitterick examines the evolution of bibliographical study in the nineteenth century … McKitterick's narrative fruitfully extends beyond national concerns.' A.S.G. Edwards, Times Literary Supplement