Description: The first thorough study of the book trade during the age of Fergusson and Burns.
Brief description: Stephen W. Brown is Professor of English at Trent University, Peterborough, Canada
Review Quotes: This is cultural and intellectual history of the most precise kind: the books and pamphlets that were written, who produced, read, collected and absorbed them and the impact these publications had on the inner and outer life of eighteenth century Scotland. Whether it is the subject of the Union of 1707, the Enlightenment, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, David Hume, James Boswell, Adam Smith, Robert Burns or any of numerous other topics and figures, the reader will find in this volume the fast beating pulse of the most exciting century in Scottish literary and cultural history. All who work in eighteenth century Scottish Studies will need to test their ideas and conclusions against the findings of this magnificent volume.--Gerard Carruthers, Reader in Scottish Literature, University of Glasgow