Manufacturers Of Literature: Writing and the Literary Marketplace in Eighteenth-Century England

by George Justice

'The Manufactures of Literature' explores the effect of the development of the publishing industry upon print culture generally, and literature specifically, during the eighteenth century. The book is structured around case studies of important writers and publishers, including Addison and Steele, Pope, Johnson, Robert Dodsley, and Frances Burney.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2002

Reviews

[Vincent Rivas-Flores · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a good and knowledgeable review of print culture and the literary marketplace in the late 18th Century. The only problem structurally with this work is that Mr. Justice worked backwards, and it shows. The final two chapters focus in Franny Burney, and they are well crafted, and having read those chapters, it became clear to me that the previous six chapters were all set up to the argument he wanted to make about Burney's position in the literary marketplace.

I have no problem with this approach, but I just wish Mr. Justice more clearly indicated this in the introduction. The earlier chapters seems to have little connection to each other until the final two chapters revealed how they influenced Burney's writings and her relationship with the marketplace.

As far as the content is concerned, Mr. Justice did his research, and he is more than happy to tell you that he, "spent nearly a month in the British Library painstakingly collating the two editions in vain hope of deep insight into Burney's technique" (pg. 220-21).