publishing

publishing. Publishing, in the modern sense, dates from the 19th cent. when the book publisher became distinct from the bookseller and printer. Monasteries and then universities had the virtual monopoly of book production before the introduction of printing, which made possible publication for a wider readership. Broadsheets and pamphlets, often with woodcuts or engravings, and produced mainly for propaganda purposes, were among the earliest publications designed for a popular audience.

The first copyright act was passed in 1709. It freed author and publisher from printers' monopolies and gave them the right to negotiate for royalties and other terms. It also gave the public free access to an author's work after a given time. During the 18th cent. the bookseller supplanted the printer in dominance of the book trade. This coincided with increased demand for books from circulating libraries and the more affluent members of the public. Religious, philosophical, and topographical works were published in large numbers, though eventually overtaken in popularity by the novel.

The earliest publishers were booksellers who sold authors' works direct to the public. Among the first were Longman's, established in 1724, and John Murray, founded in 1765. The subsequent development of publishing during the 19th cent. was a consequence of higher levels of literacy and improved printing technology. The Publishers' Association was established in 1896. Apart from newspapers, publication for a mass market was pioneered during the 19th cent. in periodicals serializing novels, like those of Dickens, with the complete novel produced later in inexpensive format. J. M. Dent's Everyman's Library, established to make available cheap editions for a popular market in 1906, was a forerunner of Allen Lane's paperback Penguin imprint, launched in 1935, which revolutionized the industry and public reading habits.

While many publishers produced books on a wide range of subjects, some specialized in particular fields, for example, legal, medical, scientific, and management studies. University presses, including those of Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, Wales, and Edinburgh, were established to publish academic works. Another specialist branch, cartographic publishing, producing charts, maps, and atlases, grew in importance during the late 18th and 19th cents., pioneers being John Bartholomew, William Lizar, and the Ordnance and Geological Surveys.

Outside London, the nucleus of the industry, Edinburgh became an important centre of publishing and printing, especially after the success of Sir Walter Scott's novels, but the publishing industry there, after flourishing during the 19th and first half of the 20th cents., was a victim of progressive metropolitan take-overs. Publishing in Glasgow, though never on the scale of Edinburgh, suffered a similar fate. Nevertheless Scottish publishing, in common with that in Wales, has experienced a revival since the 1960s.

Ian Donnachie