John Spiers, ed. The Culture of the Publisher's Series. Vol. 1, Authors, Publishers and the Shaping of Taste.

Buchanan, David

John Spiers, ed. The Culture of the Publisher's Series. Vol. 1, Authors, Publishers and the Shaping of Taste. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 20ll. 264 pp.; 50.00 [pound sterling] ISBN 9780230284029

This book is concerned with the culture of the publisher's series worldwide and over several centuries. Eleven new studies examining many nations and contexts from the seventeenth century to the end of the twentieth century cover specific series in detail, including description of roles and relationships within the publishing industry (incl., publishers, authors, literary agents, designers, and wholesale and retail distributors) and analysis of issues and topics significant to contemporary literary scholars (e.g., market forces, canonicity, copyright, literary education, popular media, high art, and marketing in its many aspects).

In the introduction, John Spiers outlines the overall aims and methodology of the work. The stated aim is a critical examination of "the cultural work and impact of the series, its purposes, strategies and contexts" (2). The methodology involves case studies of "historically eminent series" (5) that make "connections between objects, their production and their influence" (2), with emphasis on understanding "publishing as a commercial, risk-taking, competitive, practical and entrepreneurial enterprise" (I). The focus on material approaches to and the economic understanding of literary history is important as both an introduction to book history and as a unifying framework for this diverse collection.

In the opening chapter, Wallace Kirsop analyzes market forces and modernization in the French book trade in the last century of the Ancien Regime and in the early nineteenth century. Isabelle Olivero follows in chapter 2 with an examination of the "principal steps of the 'paperback revolution' in France, in the creation, commercialisation and reading of popular books from 1850 to 1950" (73) by paying particular attention to the emergence and impact of the Bibliotheque Charpentier. Issues of production and reception relative to up-market and down-market audiences raised by Kirsop and Olivero, respectively, connect well with the next two chapters. In chapter 3, Gordon B. Neavill investigates issues of canonicity in relation to reprint publishing and copyright in the eighteenth century and Simon Eliot describes the early years of the Clarendon Press Series and the transition from learned printers to modern publishers in chapter 4. As such, the first four chapters address interconnected issues--the book trade, popular literature, canon formation, and the academic press--directly relevant to humanities' scholars working in academia today.

The next three chapters further indicate the variety of topics covered in this collection. In chapter 5, Patrick Buckridge considers personality, appreciation, and literary education in relation to Harrap's Poetry and Life Series (1911-30), teasing out distinctive aims, assumptions, and methods. Cecile Cottenet follows with a look at the excavation of original African-American pulp fiction for W.W. Norton's Old School Books Series, providing a unique view of the re-imagination of forgotten literature by a mainstream publisher aiming to open up new markets. In chapter 7, Kate Macdonald provides a riveting narrative of the relationship between Thomas Nelson and Sons of Edinburgh and John Buchan.

Chapters 8, 9, and 10 consider several important series in Europe. Frederick Nesta looks at T. Fisher Unwin's Pseudonym and Autonym Libraries, Andrew Nash at Chatto and Windus and the Phoenix Library, and Michele K. Troy at Albatross Press. These studies complement Neavill's discussion of canonicity in chapter 3, tracing complex patterns of transnational production and dissemination during periods of significant social and political transformation by publishers and authors with an eye on the market and for readers with an eye on their purse. The authors do well to describe print history in a way that is academically rigorous and interesting to read without oversimplifying. The final chapter by Barbara Schaff is no exception. Her description of the multifaceted production and wide-ranging impact of John Murray's "border-crossing" (224) travel books in the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century connects readers and authors across national and international contexts.

Kirsop points to the need for a more global approach to book history, adding that "[i]t is always sensible to follow the money trains when one is investigating the publishing industry" (64). The empirically-grounded and business-side approach emphasized in this volume is an important step towards a global book history; case studies that trace literary works across national borders, such as those by Schaff, demonstrate the benefits of such a history. The prominence of Europe and America, however, clearly indicates the need for wider scope or greater inclusion, an issue in part addressed by The Culture of the Publisher's Series, vol. 2, Nationalisms and The National Canon. Regardless, the impact of the publisher's series on reading markets over the past 300 years, particularly down-market dissemination to popular or working-class readerships, at the heart of volume I is of significance to students, teachers, and scholars of literature around the world.

The real benefit of this collection is the thorough and varied application of book history to a form of publication that epitomizes the way in which contextualized communication circuits contribute to the production, dissemination, and reception of literary works over time and across national spaces. This approach has potentially significant consequences for postsecondary research and pedagogy at all levels. The material and economic orientation outlined by Spiers and put into practice by each contributor offers a clear alternative to scholarship and curricula still beholden to up-market forms, national literature, and new criticism; understanding the complex formation of canons and tastes opens up new avenues of research, including the reinvention of known authors and works, and the discovery of forgotten others; and the study and teaching of literature becomes an interdisciplinary endeavour, including bibliography, social history, and cultural theory. In short, volume one of The Culture of the Publisher's Series offers a valuable collection of essays investigating an important literary form and demonstrating an approach to literary history that contributes to better understanding of our past and our present.

DAVID BUCHANAN

University of Alberta