Session organized for the Renaissance Society of America 2015 Annual Meeting in Berlin, 26–28 March 2015
The 16th century saw the growth of a group of readers, who would purchase books for their content. They were mostly attracted by vernacular works that were either utilitarian or that provided recreational reading. These included devotional prints: little gardens of the soul and saints’ vitae; lighter works: dream books and calendars, vernacular droll stories and chivalric tales; books that supplied the school market: dictionaries and grammars; finally: news pamphlets.
These printed materials are identified as “popular”, often understood as opposed to learned and high, since in the 17th and 18th centuries cultural changes pushed this kind of reading matter to the periphery. But in fact the term “popular” should rather be used with the meaning of universal, since these publications might have been what all society shared in reading. Paradoxically, popular books left little trace in contemporary collections, even if they formed a significant part of early modern book market. …
Der ganze CfP unter http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/termine/id=25040