The Enlightenment and the Book

"In this history, Richard B. Sher breaks new ground for our understanding of the Enlightenment and the forgotten role of publishing during that period. The Enlightenment and the Hook seeks to remedy the common misperception that such classics as The Health of Nations and The Life of Samuel Johnson were made by their authors alone. To the contrary, Slier shows how the process of bookmaking during the late eighteenth century invoked complex partnerships between authors and their publishers, in which writers saw the hook industry not only as pivotal in the dissemination of their ideas but also as crucial to their dreams of fame and monetary gain. Similarly, Slier demonstrates that publishers were involved in the project of bookmaking for a variety of reasons, ranging from accumulating profits to advancing human knowledge." "The Enlightenment and the Book explores this tension between creativity and commerce, which still exists in scholarly publishing today. Illustrated and elegantly conceived, it will he must reading for anyone interested in the history of the book or the production and diffusion of Enlightenment thought."--Jacket.