A study on book circulation in the period of transition from the early modern period to the modern period based on book advertisements

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K00328
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02010:Japanese literature-related
• Research Institution: Chuo University
• Principal Investigator: SUZUKI Toshiyuki 中央大学, 文学部, 教授 (00216417)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 書籍流通 / 近世・近代移行期 / 書籍安売り / 新聞広告 / 新聞雑誌流通 / 兎屋誠 / 鶴声社

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In order to form the basis of the research as a whole, I expanded and organized data on book-related businesses from the Edo period to the first half of the Meiji era, and continued the work of covering the book distribution network to its ends. In addition, using newspaper advertisements as the main historical source, I created a list of newspaper and magazine dealers in order to trace the correlation and changes between the distribution network of newspapers and magazines and the book distribution network, which grew newly in the Meiji era. In addition, in order to follow the actual situation of the cheap book sale trend in the late 1900s, which is thought to have been greatly involved in the changes in the history of book distribution, I have researched historical materials, mainly newspaper advertisements, and created a database. Based on these studies, I wrote a paper on Usagiya, and distributed the database of newspaper store data and book bargain advertisements to researchers.

Free Research Field

国文学、書籍文化史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

明治十年代末の書籍安売り流行は、書籍業界の秩序と書籍市場すなわち読者の書籍に対する意識を大きく変えたと思われる。この書籍安売りのほとんどは、新聞広告を戦略的に使ったもので、地方新聞を含めて当該広告を網羅的に収集し、この現象を全国規模で追跡することができたことは、書籍流通史・出版史研究上大きな成果であった。また同時に新聞・雑誌販売網の成長と新聞というメディアの民間への浸透状況、すなわち、読者層そのものの変化を見定める一つの方法を提示し得たものと思われる。