The Paperback Revolution

[Music] Johan Gutenberg transformed Europe with his movable type printing press in the middle of the 15th century prior to Gutenberg in Europe almost all books were created by hand copying them and his invention made books so much more available to so many more people that many historians argue that gutenberg's invention directly spurred the European Renaissance and of course today we're facing a a new Renaissance in how books are consumed with ebooks and devices like smartphones which have blurred the line between the written and the spoken word but nonetheless have made literature more accessible to more people than ever before in history but in between Gutenberg and ebooks there was another printing Revolution that was surprisingly important it might surprise you to find out that today the most popular way that books are consumed is not ebooks it's not even traditional hardback books it's paperback books paperbacks changed what how when and how much the world reads it is history that deserves to be remembered the basic definition of a paperback book is a book with a flexible paper binding the Advent of book binding in the west began in the first century ad before the wide dissemination of the process of making paper Pages were usually made of either animal skinn parchment or plant-based Papyrus the pages were secured on one side using various methods and then bound to stiff boards that were usually covered with leather this method of binding called a codex book largely replaced the previous method used in the west of a continuous scroll well methods for affixing the pages have evolved over time and of course now we use paper instead of parchment what today we call a hardback book uses a process that's clearly derived from and surprisingly similar to the process that was used to bind the medieval codexes a modern hard cover book will most commonly have the pages sewn together at back glued to a flexible cloth covered spine between two cloth covered rigid usually thick paperboard covers often a paper or plastic dust jacket then folds over the hard cover paperbacks on the other hand usually have the pages glued together with a cover of thicker paperboard and general paperbacks do not last or wear as well as hard cover books and are less expensive to produce although not so much as you might think while book binding has been around for nearly two centuries and there were some various precursors of paperbacks the paperback book is really a product of the Industrial Revolution through the 18th century printing was done on presses very similar to those used by Johan Gutenberg new materials like better cast iron had sped the process but it was still the same press it was in the early part of the 19th century that the application of steam power to run the machinery and slightly later rotary press allowed printing at much faster speeds for Less cost at roughly the same time new processes for continuous paper making were invented and railroads were expanding mirroring The increased printing capacity to better distribution methods worldwide developments in public and private education and Newfound Prosperity among the working class had given rise to an increase in literacy other inventions like the mid-century invention of the typewriter made it easier for authors to write and all this sort of came together to form a reading Revolution prior to these developments books were relatively expensive much of the populace couldn't afford them and writing was geared towards a class that could but now books could be produced more cheaply and directed to entire new audiences the term penny dreadful refers to cheap serial literature that became popular in the early 19th century England these Works were published in chapters produced weekly that usually sold for a penny each directed at a workingclass audience and largely towards young unmarried man The Guardian newspaper called them the Victorian equivalent of video games the topics of the penny dreadfuls tended to be lurid Adventure tales in fact some argue that broadsides single large page sheets sold at public executions in the United Kingdom that would describe the crime of the criminal to be executed were a forerunner of the Penny Dreadful while the name Penny Dreadful also often called Penny Bloods might be referring to the lurd topics of these works it's as likely it was also a reference to the supposed quality or lack thereof of the literature early versions were often reprints of 18th century Gothic horror novels popular themes were about highway men or Pirates because don't all good stories involve Pirates as well as Gothic monsters like vampires one particularly popular series called The String of Pearls a domestic romance introduced the murderous Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street topics also included detective stories and stories of the American Wild West the booklets using cheap pulp paper became extremely popular more than a million were sold each week in the United Kingdom as with many popular Trends the penny dreadfuls receive criticism for corrupting Youth and were blamed for criminal behavior and suicides there were some calls to ban them although the government never took action these calls led to the publication of some Alternatives that had more wholesome themes that were sometimes called Penny delightfuls despite the outcry the penny dreadfuls inspired entire genres of fiction influenced authors like James Joyce and Robert Lewis Stevenson in 1860 New York publisher aestus Beetle published Melisa Indian wife of the white Hunter written by American novelist Anne Stevens originally published as a serial in the L's companion in 1939 the story is described as the tragic interracial Union of an Indian princess and a white hunter in Northeastern United States during the colonial period but Beetle's publication was unique while other Publishers had experimented with less expensive books Beetle had taken the idea a step further cutting cost drastically by using the cheapest paper and binding he had reduced the price to just 10 cents the New York Tribune advertised the book books for the millions a dollar Book for a dime 128 Pages complete only 10 cents Beetle had invented the dime novel The Novel seem to be direct descendants of story papers popular newspapers that published serialized stories which were similar to Penny dreadfuls and seen as a forerunner to comic books the content of many early dime novels including of course Indian wife of the white Hunter were reprints of the serialized stories which could be purchased at low cost from the author in an era without careful copyright protection some of the stories were outright pirated the four books at low cost with formulaic stories at around 100 Pages printed in a standard size of 6 1/2 by 4 and 1/4 in was an instant success the books largely focusing on stories of the frontier in American history were sometimes called blood and Thunders for their action-oriented style Frontiersman Kit Carson was a subject of more than 70 dime novels between 1860 and 1900 in 1907 the Atlantic Monthly set of them these Tales incited a love of reading among the Youth of the country many of the boys and girls who encountered pomac Boon the Renegade Gertie Matt Anthony Kinton and Blackhawk in their Pages were incited to find out something more about those characters and their times and thus were introduced to much of the nation's story and geography as the century progress cities grew and urban crime stories became popular the books could be easily carried and passed around making them popular with Civil War soldiers on both sides his storian Jill the poor of Harvard University noted blood and Thunders were sent to the Army in the field by core like unsa firewood competition arose among Publishers as several published along the model some took it a step further using smaller print and two columns to lower cost further and selling them for a nickel the books were produced in prodigious amounts former Confederate Colonel Prince Ingram an advanced agent for Buffalo Bills Wild West show wrote some 600 novels under numerous pseudonyms the webpage book Riot notes that author Frederick marmaduk van renel day the creator of the detective character Nick Carter was rumored to put out 25,000 words every week for almost 20 years using multiple pen names some novelists were said to be able to produce a book in a single day while the format often appealed to men dime novels developed a subgenre of romance fiction for women and allowed success for many female authors like the penny dreadfuls dime novels were criticized by media critics and attack for as supposed deleterious effect on the youth but their themes also represented the growing friction of American society in the 19th century they drew the particular eye of Anthony comto Secretary of the New York Society for the suppression of Vice who led campaigns that burns some 15 Tons of books that were supposedly obscene but it was Rising postal rates rather than crusading reformers that spelled the demise of the dime novel with the genre largely placed by the turn of the century by the even cheaper pulp magazines but dime novels the first Mass Appeal paperbacks were important as book right concludes while dime novels still haven't gotten the respect that they deserve Reserve without them there wouldn't be many forms of genre writing including Pulp Fiction romance and detective and crime fiction and paperbacks hadn't finished changing the world just yet in the United Kingdom publisher George rattled published inexpensive books targeted at Railway passengers in the 1850s and 60s called the routage railway library because of their bright yellow covers the cheaply made books were often called yellow backs his books were reprints of famous books where wrs could be acquired cheaply or some cases like Harry beer stoes Uncle Tom's Cabin with no cost at all because of a lack of international copyright law a competitor with Penny dreadfuls the railway Library eventually included over 12200 titles that were according to the London Times never above and never below the standard of public taste the series remained in publication until 1898 but the idea affordable reprints of classic Works was revived in the 20th century in 1931 with a German firm that produced Albatross books these were English language reprints that were only sold on the continent so that they wouldn't compete with UK copyrights while Albatross didn't survive the second world war the idea was taken up in the UK where publisher Alan Lane reportedly distressed the lack of affordable quality reading material in train stations began publication of Penguin Books Lane reduced cost by doing large print runs and depending upon volume and reprinting titles where writs could be acquired cheaply Penguin Books were sold at Mass Outlets like Woolworths not typical bookstores the books were made in a standard size color coed for JRE and sold for six P about the price of a pack of cigarettes among the first entitles were a series Affair at styles by Agatha Christie and Ernest Hemingways A Farewell to Arms the idea of quality books and an affordable price was a success with penguin selling about a million books in the first six months the same idea would be taken up in the United States by publisher Robert F degraph de graph imagined that there was a demand for Quality reading material by the American public but that books were too expensive the website Mental Floss noted in 1939 gas cost 10 cents a gallon at the pump a movie ticket set you back 20 John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath the year's bestselling hard cover book was $2.75 for a nation suffering 20% unemployment books were an impossible expense the graph convinced publishing giant Simon and Schuster to create pocket books Smithsonian Magazine said of this revolution in publishing a petite 4x6 in and priced a 05 the pocketbook changed everything but who could read and where his idea of affordable paperback reprints was no guarantee his obituary in 1981 the New York Times wrote before the remarkable success of the 10 paperback reprints initially offered by pocket books in 1939 Publishers insisted that the American public would not buy paper bound books Smith soan notes that in 1939 the country only had about 500 bookstores all clustered in the biggest 12 cities and hard covers cost $22.50 about $40 in today's currency on June 19th 1939 the graph took out a full- page ad in the New York Times it read out today the new pocket books that may transform New York's reading Habits by leveraging the ideas used by Albatross and Penguin Books standard sizes and covers mass production of reprints of famous works and unconventional Outlets like grocery stores and drug stores pocket books became a phenomenal success a 2018 edition of the Atlantic writes Americans could put down a quarter pick up a book all over town from train stations and drug stores within a year Americans bought 6 million paperback books selling at 25 cents a piece the original 10 titles which included Lost Horizon by James Hilton the murder of Roger akroy by Agatha Christie five great tragedies of William Shakespeare and weathering Heights by Emily Bronte sold 17 million books within two years historian Kenneth C Davis said of them they literally couldn't keep up with demand they tapped into a huge reservoir of Americans nobody realized wanted to read it was a volume business Mental Floss explains for every paperback sold the hardcover publisher would receive a penny royalty per copy which was split 50/50 with the author pocketbooks would also make about a penny in profit for each copy sold the industry found a new way to grow during the second world war when Publishers gave away nearly 123 million books to military personnel the New York Times wrote knowing that books are great Builders of morale the council found ways of reprinting the the best of current fiction biography history philosophy science poetry and the drama some 300 titles in all in pocket-sized form the Atlantic quoted radio commentary HV centor in 1944 some of the Publishers think that their business is going to be ruined but I make this prediction America's Publishers have cooperated in an experiment that will for the first time make us a nation of book readers the donations were not just pulp titles but also important literature that previously only been available in hardback printed an inexpensive paperback binding the idea was patriotic in a propaganda coup a June 20th 1944 edition of The New York Times called books as Weapons argued here is seen the difference between the two ways of life and thought now locked in battle throughout the Earth people of the axis lands are prevented by force from knowing the facts of the time and are told what to think people of this Free Nation are supplied with the truth as freemen see it and are confidently left to think for themselves like their ancestors reading dime novels the books were a hit with the armed forces the Atlantic quotes a war reporter because they are what they are because they could be packed in a hip pocket or snuck into a shoulder pack men are reading where men have never read before the result was a transformation of a reading public and a rehabilitation of the previously low opinion of the humble paperback the Atlantic concludes once a marker of elite status a Shelf full of books became a membership badge in the burgeoning middle class the decades following the war were boom years for the the publishing trade as audiences exploded and sales doubled and then redoubled again the industry changed again in 1949 when faucet Publications found a way to work around a publication contract by publishing reprints of magazine articles as anthologies rather than reprints of books this changed paperbacks from being primarily reprints to publishing original Works more similar to the dime novels of the previous Century The Originals helped to reinvigorate genres like detective novels and westerns although there were a good number who were just salacious pulp stories in 2013 more than half the paperback books sold were romance novels ironically the books competed with and helped to speed the decline of the pulp magazines that had themselves contributed to the demise of the 19th century dime novel you might think the Advent of ebooks represents a significant challenge to paperback books but the sale of ebooks seems to have peaked and is actually in Decline while the sales of printed works is been increasing apparently people still like the feel of a book in their hands a poll by Pew research found that more than 2third of Americans said that they had read a physical book in 2017 worldwide ebooks and hard covers represent about 25% of new book sales each but paperbacks dominate the market representing about half of all new book sales many new books come out as hard cover in their first edition while hard covers are slightly more expensive to produce they are sold at a much higher margin and only after the hardback sales have reduced will the publisher go produce the paperback that might find new audiences but makes less money per book but still paperbacks often introduce us to new Authors as firsttime writers often have their books published even in the first edition in paperback the technology that created nations of readers and spawn entire genres of writing continues to inspire us even in the electronic age I hope you enjoyed this episode of the history guy short snipp put have forgotten history between 10 and 15 minutes long and if you did enjoy please go ahead and click that Thumbs Up Button if you have any questions or comments or suggestions for future episodes please write those in the comment section I will be happy to personally respond be sure to follow the history guy on Facebook Instagram Twitter and check out our 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Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 139,179

Keywords: history, history guy, the history guy, reading, books, paperback, publishing

Id: wC32-QoKemw

Length: 17min 29sec (1049 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 12 2021