Literary advertising and the shaping of British romanticism / Nicholas Mason.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mason, Nicholas, 1970-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Literature publishing--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Literature publishing.

Literature publishing--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Advertising.

History.

Authors and publishers.

Great Britain.

Authors and publishers--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Authors and publishers--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Advertising--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Advertising--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Romanticism--Great Britain.

Romanticism.

Physical Description:

viii, 202 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013.

Summary:

Important revisions to the history of advertising and its connection to Romantic-era literature. -- Outstanding Academic Title, Choice -- Literary Advertising and the Shaping of British Romanticism investigates the entwined histories of the advertising industry and the gradual commodification of literature over the course of the Romantic Century (1750-1850). In this engaging and detailed study, Nicholas Mason argues that the seemingly antagonistic arenas of marketing and literature share a common genealogy and, in many instances, even a symbiotic relationship. Drawing from archival materials such as publishers' account books, merchants' trade cards, and authors' letters, Mason traces the beginnings of many familiar modern advertising methods--including product placement, limited-time offers, and journalistic puffery--to the British book trade during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Until now, Romantic scholars have not fully recognized advertising's cultural significance or the importance of this period in the origins of modern advertising. Mason explores Lord Byron's appropriation of branding, Letitia Elizabeth Landon's experiments in visual marketing, and late-Romantic debates over advertising's claim to be a new branch of the literary arts. Mason uses the antics of Romantic-era advertising to illustrate the profound implications of commercial modernity, both in economic practices governing the book trade and, more broadly, in the development of the modern idea of literature.

Contents:

Advertising in the romantic century

The progress of puffery

Building brand Byron

L.E.L., bandwagon marketing, and the rise of visual culture

Puffery and the "death" of literature in late-romantic Britain

Conclusion: The art of advertising.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781421409986

9781421410715

1421410710

1421409984

OCLC:

823742041