Achievements of the Correlation between Publication by Subscription and Libraries in the Rise of Literary Publishing Culture in 19th-century Britain

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K00413
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02030:English literature and literature in the English language-related
• Research Institution: Ibaraki University
• Principal Investigator: KOBAYASHI Hidemi 茨城大学, 教育学部, 教授 (70277862)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 19世紀 / 英国文学 / 読書文化 / 出版文化 / パトロン（出資者） / 会員制有料図書館 / 予約購読形式出版 / 文学受容研究

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research delves into the intricate relationship between subscription readers and membership library users during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, proposing that this dynamic interplay served as a pivotal force in shaping the multifaceted literary publishing culture we witness today. The cases of poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey serve as compelling examples of this intertwined relationship. Both poets actively engaged in subscription publishing as authors while simultaneously being avid patrons of various libraries from their youth. These cases are not isolated; a wealth of evidence points to a broader phenomenon: authors who were library members or utilized the subscription format, and libraries that not only acquired books through subscriptions but also housed periodicals containing literary reviews. This multifaceted interaction suggests that libraries exerted influence not only on their patrons, but also on authors and the literary landscape itself.

Free Research Field

英文学および英語圏文学関連

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

文学作品の受容研究の新たな観点を提供した研究と考えられる。会員制有料読書施設は、事前登録した会員から成り、予約購読出版は予約者によって成立するので、二つの読者層の対照研究と換言できるからである。本研究成果は、二つの読者共同体を具体的な記録を照応して、共通する読者や文芸嗜好等を導き出したことで、二つの共同体が文芸・出版文化に及ぼした相乗効果の実相を明らかにしたのである。またそれは、現代的な文芸・読書文化の起点とも言え、この相互影響関係は、常に振り返るべき要諦としての社会的意義がある。