Rationale
RECENT YEARS have witnessed increased scholarly interest in the
history of the book trade. This is apparent in the number of
large-scale collaborative national histories of the book that are
underway, not least The Edinburgh History of the Book in Scotland, to be published in 4 volumes by Edinburgh University Press.
This area of study has wider intellectual implications than is
sometimes realised. 'Book History' is an area of interdisciplinary
enquiry whose specific objects of study include literacy and reading
practices; relations among publishers, authors, agents, and readers;
the impact of changing information and communication networks; and the
historical development of media technology.
Crucial as it is to the specialist historian, this archival material is
also of considerable importance to researchers in other disciplines,
most obviously business, intellectual, cultural, and literary
historians. While the inventory is intended to meet a felt need among
scholars of Scottish culture, it is also intended to appeal to scholars
of other national traditions. There have for centuries been
considerable business connections between the Scottish book trades and
their British and European counterparts. Of equal importance have been
the imperial connections of Scottish firms.
The majority of today's book history research is archivally oriented,
involving intensive use, quantification, and analysis of archival
material. Despite an increasing scholarly demand for these collections
they can be difficult to access and important research is often
frustrated by the distributed nature of these resources, while
institutions which care for such collections are placed under
increasing pressure to aid researchers from across various disciplines
to map their holdings in this field. Such a unified resource is
therefore a prime desideratum, and will revolutionise both access to
and understanding of these records.
|
