The Literary Underground of the Old Regime
Darnton, Robert
From Karol Krysik Books ABAC/ILAB, IOBA, PBFA, Toronto, ON, Canada
AbeBooks Seller Since July 3, 2012
Quantity: 1From Karol Krysik Books ABAC/ILAB, IOBA, PBFA, Toronto, ON, Canada
AbeBooks Seller Since July 3, 2012
Quantity: 1About this Item
8vo. ix, 258 pp. Corners, head and foot of spine mildly bruised. Minor edgewear to dustjacket. Seller Inventory # 8139
Bibliographic Details
Title: The Literary Underground of the Old Regime
Publisher: Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Publication Date: 1982
Binding: Cloth
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
Edition: First Edition.
About this title
Robert Darnton introduces us to the shadowy world of pirate publishers, garret scribblers, under-the-cloak book peddlers, smugglers, and police spies that composed the literary underground of the Enlightenment.
Here are the ambitious writers who crowded into Paris seeking fame and fortune within the Republic of Letters, but who instead sank into the miserable world of Grub Street-victims of a closed world of protection and privilege. Venting their frustrations in an illicit literature of vitriolic pamphlets, libelles, and chroniques scandaleuses, these "Rousseaus of the gutter" desecrated everything sacred in the social order of the Old Regime. Here too are the workers who printed their writings and the clandestine booksellers who distributed them.
While censorship, a monopolistic guild, and the police contained the visible publishing industry within the limits of official orthodoxies, a prolific literary underworld disseminated a vast illegal literature that conveyed a seditious ideology to readers everywhere in France. Covering their traces in order to survive, the creators of this eighteenth-century counterculture have virtually disappeared from history. By drawing on an ingenious selection of previously hidden sources, such as police ledgers and publishers' records, Robert Darnton reveals for the first time the fascinating story of that forgotten underworld.
The activities of the underground bear on a broad range of issues in history and literature, and they directly concern the problem of uncovering the ideological origins of the French Revolution. This engaging book illuminates those issues and provides a fresh view of publishing history that will inform and delight the general reader.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Store Description
Karol Krysik Books
491 Davenport Road
Second Floor
Toronto, ON. M4V 1B7
Canada
kkrysik@yahoo.ca
416-727-7718
Canadian Tax HST/GST #83266-8172
We guarantee the condition of every book as it's described on
the Abebooks web sites. If you're dissatisfied with your
purchase (Incorrect Book/Not as Described/Damaged) you are eligible for a refund
within 30 days of the estimated delivery date. If your book has not arrived,
please contact me for delivery status. Most items will be mailed surface unless
o...
Shipping costs are based on books weighing 2.2 LB, or 1 KG. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required.
Payment Methods
accepted by seller
Check Money Order Cash PayPal Bank Draft Bank/Wire Transfer