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Andrew Pettegree
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The Bookshop of the World: Making and Trading Books in the Dutch Golden Age Paperback – September 29, 2020

by Andrew Pettegree (Author), Arthur der Weduwen (Author)
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The untold story of how the Dutch conquered the European book market and became the world's greatest bibliophiles—“an instant classic on Dutch book history” (BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review)
"[An] excellent contribution to book history."—Robert Darnton, New York Review of Books
  The Dutch Golden Age has long been seen as the age of Rembrandt and Vermeer, whose paintings captured the public imagination and came to represent the marvel that was the Dutch Republic. Yet there is another, largely overlooked marvel in the Dutch world of the seventeenth century: books.

In this fascinating account, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen show how the Dutch produced many more books than pictures and bought and owned more books per capita than any other part of Europe. Key innovations in marketing, book auctions, and newspaper advertising brought stability to a market where elsewhere publishers faced bankruptcy, and created a population uniquely well-informed and politically engaged. This book tells for the first time the remarkable story of the Dutch conquest of the European book world and shows the true extent to which these pious, prosperous, quarrelsome, and generous people were shaped by what they read.
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  1. Print length
    496 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Yale University Press
  4. Publication date
    September 29, 2020
  5. Dimensions
    5.1 x 1.5 x 7.7 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0300254792
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0300254792
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“An instant classic on Dutch book history”—César Manrique Figueroa, BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review

"[An] excellent contribution to book history."—Robert Darnton, New York Review of Books

"A fascinating and much-needed study. . . . The authors have presented us with a lively and nuanced three-dimensional view of the book industry and the Dutch Republic."—Nicole Greenspan, Seventeenth-Century News

“In this brilliant survey, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen show how Dutch bookmen conquered the European market. They also point out the importance of printed works in everyday life during the Dutch Golden Age, the long seventeenth century (ca. 1580–1700). . . . A great synthesis, which shows that book history cannot be neglected by anyone who wants to understand religious debates, economy,
social and political conflicts, or simply everyday life during the early modern period.”—Renaud Adam, Renaissance Quarterly

“Not many books in the genre of the history of the book achieve the depth and clarity of The Bookshop of the World. . . . The authors provide a wealth of detail for the economics of the book trade and economic life in general. We must be grateful for their achievements.”—Margaret C. Jacob, Journal of Modern History

“Impressive . . . this book tells the fascinating story of how Dutch people shaped the printing industry and how the printing industry shaped the Dutch Republic.” —Erica Johnson Edwards, 1650–1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era
 

“The Dutch Republic during the 17th and much of the 18th century was indeed the "bookshop of the world". In fact, as Pettegree and Der Weduwen show in this excellent account, publishing, newspapers, importing and exporting books and the wider book trade with its published catalogues and book auctions were one of the most innovative and important aspects of the Dutch Golden Age.”—Jonathan Israel, author of The Dutch Republic

“Offers a fresh understanding of the fundamental importance of print in early modern Europe. Alert to the growing interdependence of money and power, and searching out evidence for the existence of long-lost public announcements and news sheets as well as books and engravings, Pettegree and Der Weduwen reinterpret the formation of the information system supporting the rise of the Dutch Republic, a grand exemplar of the new commercial state. It is a remarkable achievement.”—Harold J. Cook, author of Matters of Exchange

“All printed matter and its makers is grist for the finely grinding mill of Pettegree and Der Weduwen. Their pioneering research feeds into every last field of study in the Dutch seventeenth century, and via the Netherlands into the rest of the literate world. This is a far larger and lesser-known territory than the familiar Republic of Letters, and fuller of surprises.”— Gary Schwartz, author of Rembrandt's Universe

About the Author

Andrew Pettegree is professor of modern history at the University of St. Andrews and director of the Universal Short Title Catalogue. Arthur der Weduwen is a researcher at the University of St. Andrews.

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Andrew Pettegree

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
63 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

  • 'German Boy'
    5.0 out of 5 stars How the Dutch conquered the European book market in the 1600s
    Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2020
    Format: Hardcover
    How the Dutch conquered the European book market in the 1600s

    A marvelous book – written with prodigious effort and assiduity – on a subject not otherwise much recorded.

    A tribute to the scholarship produced at the prestigious St. Andrews University, Scotland’s oldest and the third oldest on the British Isle—after Oxford and Cambridge.

    For the non-specialist, its 460+ pages of text and notes might be a little arduous to plow through; it is the type of book suitable for periodic relaxing browsing. I found the very enlightening 23-page Prelude to present, in a concise and enjoyable manner, the essence of what the authors are about.

    One constructive criticism: To correlate and position in my mind’s eye the myriad place names mentioned, I looked in vain for TWO LARGE-SCALE, detailed MAPS. One of the densely populated Dutch Republic (preferably extending over two pages); the other of the adjacent Western and Middle Europe. Seventeenth-century ‘Nederland’ was intimately linked to France, Flanders in what is now Belgium, and the many fragmented regions of German culture and language.

    Again: I admired the plunge the two authors took into multiple languages. I am convinced that they, perforce, became fluent in Dutch during their diligent, long-lasting research—while incidentally acquiring more than a passing knowledge of a few other languages. Having been thrown at the age of nine years into an environment completely outside my native tongue and confronted with the need to acquire three foreign languages—one of which is Asian with its own script (written right-to-left)—I simply found the experience GREAT FUN.

    (Signed) – A fervent ‘Middle European’ bibliophile
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Jehoshephat
    5.0 out of 5 stars an amazing gathering of information
    Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2019
    Format: Hardcover
    Maybe because I'm a retired academic and my father, uncles and grandfather were all printers, but I found this book totally fascinating, start to finish. The amount of research the authors had to do was extraordinary, and in itself very interesting, like adding up the clues in a mystery or watching a map gradually define a territory. This also becomes a much fuller picture of Dutch citizens than even Simon Schama's wonderful EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES provides, because the focus here is much broader than in the earlier book. The writing can be a bit dense, but it's always extremely clear, as is the book's organization. There are also a number of relevant and attractive illustrations -- artworks, maps, documents and so on. So the book calls for a major investment of time and attention, but it pays back that investment very handsomely. Really a great accomplishment, and a book I'm delighted to have on my shelves.
    21 people found this helpful
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  • JEDrury
    5.0 out of 5 stars A superb, thought provoking history !
    Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2021
    Format: Paperback
    "The Bookshop of the World" offers the reader at least three (3) important insights; the strengths of the book publishing and trading market in 17th century Dutch society, a granular view of Dutch society and its place in European history, and, the well-springs of the information age, and how human communication and interdependency was fostered and emerged from the this time and place in the Netherlands.

    Comprehensive, highly informative, well written, exhaustive at times for the reader in the presentation of its research, "Bookshop" contains a number of color prints, no maps, a timeline, endnotes, and a complete bibliography. The paperback version is admirably printed by Yale Press.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Mom Who Skates
    3.0 out of 5 stars More data, less passion than expected
    Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2019
    Format: Kindle
    Not as interesting as I had hoped.
    9 people found this helpful
    Helpful
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  • Salenia
    1.0 out of 5 stars Print in paperback version too small to read
    Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2021
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I'm sure this book is fine, but do not buy the paperback version. It is much smaller than the hardback copy, 5 x 7.75 inches instead of 6 x 9 inches. This makes the print so small that it is very hard to read. Also the book is thick, almost 1.5 inches. This makes the margins too small. You have to flatten the book to read it and that breaks the spine. Buy the hardback copy. (I have.)
    11 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • marco
    5.0 out of 5 stars consigliato
    Reviewed in Italy on April 5, 2021
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    ottimo!
    Report
  • Angus R Weller
    3.0 out of 5 stars Damaged in shipping
    Reviewed in Canada on December 3, 2021
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I am reading the book for content and paperback books will suffer more damage in use than hard bound ones but I would rather I damage the book rather than receiving it pre-damaged.

    The content is great.
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    Angus R Weller
    3.0 out of 5 stars
    Damaged in shipping

    Reviewed in Canada on December 3, 2021
    I am reading the book for content and paperback books will suffer more damage in use than hard bound ones but I would rather I damage the book rather than receiving it pre-damaged.

    The content is great.
    Images in this review
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  • Mick
    5.0 out of 5 stars As described and speedy delivery
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 9, 2021
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Item as described in very good condition very timely delivery Book worth reading
    Report
  • Christine Clark
    5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2019
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Super fast delivery. Perfect item.
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