How to Do Things With Books in Victorian Britain

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Jun 10, 2017 Aaron rated it it was amazing

The most brilliantly written and most fascinating scholarly book I have read in a long time.

Jan 01, 2019 Holly Paul rated it really liked it

Essential reading for Victorian and book history scholars: even when I disagreed with Price's interpretations, I loved every minute of it. Essential reading for Victorian and book history scholars: even when I disagreed with Price's interpretations, I loved every minute of it. ...more

What are books good (or maybe not good) for besides their content. Tough going,lots of jargon.

May 15, 2018 Lois rated it it was amazing

In her introduction to How to Do Things with Books in Victorian Britain, Professor of English and Chair of the History & Literature program at Harvard University, Leah Price, asks a few key questions: "… what meanings do books make even, or especially, when they go unread? And why did Victorian authors care?" Following on these prefatory posers, she asks a great many more regarding the format and treatment of books during the nineteenth century, all of which she attempts to answer in this 350-pa In her introduction to How to Do Things with Books in Victorian Britain, Professor of English and Chair of the History & Literature program at Harvard University, Leah Price, asks a few key questions: "… what meanings do books make even, or especially, when they go unread? And why did Victorian authors care?" Following on these prefatory posers, she asks a great many more regarding the format and treatment of books during the nineteenth century, all of which she attempts to answer in this 350-page exploration of how Britons understood, and what they felt about, the uses of printed matter during that time and age. In this critical analysis of the major focus of the publishing arena, attention is laid on three major activities that were undertaken in connection with such material, namely reading, handling, and circulating.

Asserting that she writes from within the parameters set by reception history, which centers on the reader's reception of a literary text in historical perspective, Prof. Price first explores the relation of book history to literary-critical theory and practice, before embarking on more accessible and detailed case studies covering a wide span of relationships, ranging from husband-wife, through parent-child, to master-servant, that had to do with the literary output of the day. The author neatly guides readers with specific interests in certain types of printed material (including Bibles and newspapers) to particularly relevant chapters of the book. How to Do Things with Books in Victorian Britain pays much attention to the work of such leading writers of the day as Thackeray, Dickens, the Brontës, Trollope, and Collins, as well as to the urban sociology of Henry Mayhew.

Prof. Price's discursive style does credit to her subject, as, in addition to How to Do Things with Books in Victorian Britain being packed with clearly well-researched information, it is also highly readable. The author provides prolific examples taken from the literature to illustrate the points that she expresses powerfully and clearly. Her profound insights and far-reaching understanding of her subject have emerged from her close familiarity with the genres of literature of which she writes. And, even though she clearly wrote How to Do Things with Books in Victorian Britain with the literary scholar in mind, the text should be highly accessible to any reader with a modicum of intelligence.

How to Do Things with Books in Victorian Britain is illustrated throughout with relevant satirical cartoons from Punch and black-and-white illustrations from some of the literary works that were produced during the nineteenth century. In addition to the 29 pages of endnotes, which are extensive and enlightening, the 24-page index is comprehensive and detailed, containing such key entries as "bildungsroman," "it-narratives," "libraries," and "religious tracts." How to Do Things with Books in Victorian Britain should make a worthy addition to any genuine book lover's own library, as well as be acquired for any library or resource center that focuses on history and/or English literature.

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Aug 08, 2012 Elizabeth rated it it was amazing

Price does an incredible job of justifying why both literary critics and book historians should consider aspects of the book's life beyond reading in order to more fully grasp the object's valences in a given time. Though her own analysis is (self-consciously) comprised of the close readings of a literary critic, the content of these readings is thoroughly convincing of her point. And though the generalizeability of her readings is somewhat constrained by the delimited historical period the book Price does an incredible job of justifying why both literary critics and book historians should consider aspects of the book's life beyond reading in order to more fully grasp the object's valences in a given time. Though her own analysis is (self-consciously) comprised of the close readings of a literary critic, the content of these readings is thoroughly convincing of her point. And though the generalizeability of her readings is somewhat constrained by the delimited historical period the books she studies addresses, she does an incredible job of situating her own readings and philosophical/theoretical orientations within both literary and reception studies in order to claim ground for similar types of studies addressing different aspects of books' lives in other times and places. ...more

Nov 29, 2011 Claire rated it really liked it

This scholarly work by a book historian of Victorian literature is necessarily erudite, clever and droll. It seems we owe most of our bookish habits to the Victorians, who continue to shape so much more of our life today than we acknowledge, despite persistent deconstruction. I encountered many more literary terms than I was familiar with and enjoyed looking them up. The book historian critiques literary criticism and her own reception writing with the highest skill. A dense read in a slim volum This scholarly work by a book historian of Victorian literature is necessarily erudite, clever and droll. It seems we owe most of our bookish habits to the Victorians, who continue to shape so much more of our life today than we acknowledge, despite persistent deconstruction. I encountered many more literary terms than I was familiar with and enjoyed looking them up. The book historian critiques literary criticism and her own reception writing with the highest skill. A dense read in a slim volume. ...more

Jul 02, 2015 John rated it liked it

An academic treatise on Victorian relations with books and paper. It looks at cultural history through different theoretical lenses to try and understand how the modern relationship with books and by extension, media was formed at the beginning of mass production. This provides good reference material in the scholarship of book history.

Aug 22, 2013 Sannie Hald rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Victorian lovers

Recommended to Sannie by: University teacher

This was a very interesting read. The Victorians had many concerns about books and their usage. A must read for fans of the Victorian Age.

Leah Price is an American literary critic who specializes in the British novel and in the history of the book. She is Professor of English Literature at Harvard University, where at the age of 31 she became the first female assistant professor ever to be promoted to tenure.

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How to Do Things With Books in Victorian Britain

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