The bookbinder and historical invisibility: bookbinding and the Staffordshire book trade 1750-1850

Abstract

Provincial bookbinding has been largely overlooked as a subject for study. The social history of bookbinding has been neglected in the historiography of the book trade, confining it in narrow bibliographical studies. This thesis investigates and challenges this situation, and the orthodox view of the dominance of the London book trade over the Staffordshire trade. It addresses the historical 'invisibility' of the bookbinders, and argues that Staffordshire's bookbinders made a significant contribution in the commerce between the county trade and London. There is little first-hand evidence of the lives lived by Staffordshire's binders. In the absence of such evidence my methodology relies on primary information from contemporary newspapers and books, and secondary data from regional scholars and published research, enabling the analysis of the activities and social context of Staffordshire's binders. It uses the greater availability of book history information in various databases. The thesis argues that the study of bookbinding should form an integral element of book trade history scholarship, in order to explore its place in the social, historical and cultural experience of the advancement of literacy and reading. It makes a significant new addition to knowledge of the contribution of Staffordshire's binders to regional and national printing culture, and also investigates the roles and value of its women bookbinders, leading to a greater understanding of the cultural value of Staffordshire's binders.