Craftsman Period: The book awakes, hope warms up

Before the Industrial Revolution made its entry into the field of printing, the book experienced a period known as artisanal (1500-1810). The printing press did not change, the layout was manual and paper remained the same substance (paper cloth cast in a framework of brass wires). What is interesting in this "artisanal period"?

 

Despite a certain archaic technique, the book from these years played a vital role in education, dissemination of knowledge and political domination. A work is now worthy to be called a book if it had more than forty-eight pages published, it was diffused, and had a quick catchy title assigned for sale! The market really took off from this printing and even became a source of entertainment!

 

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Un livre, oui mais un vrai !

A book, yes but a real one!

 

During 16th century, the codex was buried and production became more manageable with formats such as folio, quarto, octavo and even sextodecimo. These barbarous names actually corresponded to the number of times the sheet was folded to form a notebook. For example, a book of quarto format consisted of a sheet folded twice (one obtains four parts). Then each section was numbered with a letter and each page with a number. But the paperback was still far with a octavo measuring twenty centimeters!

 

The binder was the cover, but it is essential for budding collectors because it may provide a clue on the book’s value. In fact, it is the visible and protective layer of the book but it varies depending on the era and client’s commission. All this often will precise the dating and value. For example, in the 16th century, the binding was still not a luxury. Rather it was a mere parchment sometimes heat-gilded, sparsely decorated and just covered the pages. The wealthy requested more exotic brocades bindings which became richer. In the 17th century, the binding dictated the social class of the client.  The upper class added florets and gilded coat of arms and a few colors to give life and light to the parchment. More modest readers had red Morocco leather.

 

During the  Enlightenment, binding became more current, often tainted (red, olive or lemon) and lace motif decorations were included with the gilding. The book was then very beautiful, very clean hence ready to be placed in curious hands.

 

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In the 17th century, the printed book, a locked grail

 

After a period of growth and dissemination (XVI) the book was muzzled by the government. The 17th century was characterized by absolutism, the increase of temporal power and the reinforcement of political authority. The books, pieces of knowledge, reflection and criticism were silenced by the kings of the Old Regime, which put the privilege of printing in their favor. In 1683, there was no more than forty printers in France, thirty-six in Paris, and their pages hot from the presses were regularly monitored. Louis XIV, who surrounded himself with educated courtiers, used books to spread a royal historiography arranged by him.  The book was a broadcast agent for science, even as a form of propaganda. Similarly, the Sun King favored the printed texts of the newly founded French Academy so as to impoverish the production of other presses of the hexagon who may question royalty. Rebelling intellectuals created networks to print in Holland, a country absent from religion and the

Old Regime’s power. Then the books must return to the country of origin for future sales and this was the most difficult step. Despite the censorship, the number of readers increased but thanks in part to the nobility and the court because the common population did not know how to read and obviously afford a book. They were happy with fire vigils where ancient tales were told ....

 

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The book in the 18th Century, the new light

 

The 18th century was not called the Enlightenment by chance and it has nothing to do with the discovery of electricity! This term refers metaphorically the light of knowledge spread during the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI with the basis for modern science. But the book was once again a key player in this cultural progress, an effective player at all levels of knowledge. The peddler distributed pamphlets, almanacs, “bibliotheque bleue” (precursor to the railway station novel), and the famous Encyclopedia made a thunderous entrance on the market in 1751. European authors created the République des Lettres(Republic of Letters), an epistolary network that enabled the exchange of knowledge.

 

Travelogues were on the rise and as well as the popularity of small formats (in twelve or six). Similarly, the appearance of scientific literature were heavily detailed in order to attract the attention of the curious amateur. Science became more democratic with the vernacular texts and highlighted with a clear layout and filled with quality etchings, sometimes in color.

 

 

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Liberty, Equality, Reading

 

Louis XVI, less wary than his father, gently released the shackles of printers. This allowed the Encyclopedia to sell twenty-four thousand copies being the bestseller of its time! This essential book endured eleven years of remodeling and secret re-editions before imposing on the cultural scene as a symbol of victory over absolutism and the power of the Church. Reading was no longer a  royal or ecclesiastical privilege but a patrimonial object. In 1789, there were eighteen Paris libraries. These new institutions, which reflect a change in attitudes, were mainly monastic but were wide open to amateurs.

 

The French Revolution provided a last major expansion of printing in the 18th century with an explosion! The leaflets were used as a vehicule to convey new ideas and authors could finally be published as they wish. The presses were not stopped. The new Republican State was eager for culture. It confiscated ten million books from the church and nobles tin order to establish reserves funds for the first existing national libraries. They were stored in literary warehouses until 1795 for public lending consideration. Then ultimately only by a decree of Napoleon in 1803 the central libraries appear. The book finally enters the national patrimony.

 

 

In the next episode, you will understand how the book goes from being the status of the holy grail of knowledge to the status of popularization ..

 

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Pauline Balayer (étudiante à l'Ecole du Louvre).