Saturday, July 27, 2013

18th century bookstore?

Saturday night bonus post: I'm at home trying to draw the last pages of Chapter 7, but my brain doesn't feel like cooperating tonight. Have a few more questions I can't yet answer:

Books weren't as rare in 1760s as in previous centuries, but how did people buy them? The wealthy and educated prided themselves on their private libraries, but how did they stock them? Did they travel to purchase books in person, belong to some kind of book-of-the-month club, trust the task to a personal servant, or say to the sellers "just send me whatever is appropriate"?

If you went to buy books in a city, did they have a typical "bookstore" or did you go to the printer's, full of printing presses, newspapers and playbills?

Also, Allan and Stephen must eventually come out of mourning, so I'm debating the color and style of their new clothes.

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