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Cover image of Literary Advertising and the Shaping of British Romanticism
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Literary Advertising and the Shaping of British Romanticism

Nicholas Mason

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Important revisions to the history of advertising and its connection to Romantic-era literature.

Outstanding Academic Title, Choice

Literary Advertising and the Shaping of British Romanticism investigates the entwined histories of the advertising industry and the gradual commodification of literature over the course of the Romantic Century (1750–1850). In this engaging and detailed study, Nicholas Mason argues that the seemingly antagonistic arenas of marketing and literature share a common genealogy and, in many instances, even a symbiotic relationship.

Drawing from archival materials such as...

Important revisions to the history of advertising and its connection to Romantic-era literature.

Outstanding Academic Title, Choice

Literary Advertising and the Shaping of British Romanticism investigates the entwined histories of the advertising industry and the gradual commodification of literature over the course of the Romantic Century (1750–1850). In this engaging and detailed study, Nicholas Mason argues that the seemingly antagonistic arenas of marketing and literature share a common genealogy and, in many instances, even a symbiotic relationship.

Drawing from archival materials such as publishers' account books, merchants' trade cards, and authors' letters, Mason traces the beginnings of many familiar modern advertising methods—including product placement, limited-time offers, and journalistic puffery—to the British book trade during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Until now, Romantic scholars have not fully recognized advertising’s cultural significance or the importance of this period in the origins of modern advertising. Mason explores Lord Byron’s appropriation of branding, Letitia Elizabeth Landon’s experiments in visual marketing, and late-Romantic debates over advertising's claim to be a new branch of the literary arts. Mason uses the antics of Romantic-era advertising to illustrate the profound implications of commercial modernity, both in economic practices governing the book trade and, more broadly, in the development of the modern idea of literature.

Reviews

Reviews

A book that has an entire chapter on Lord Byron and 'branding'— who would not be intrigued?... Highly Recommended.

This book substantially enriches our understanding not just of British Romanticism but also of the history of advertising... The book's thoroughly historical argument works within the sub-fields of print culture and material culture to reveal the intimate connections between consumer culture and literary writing... Mason's work performs a number of valuable services for the study of Romanticism... This book deserves attention.

Mason's Literary Advertising provides a valuable contribution to our understanding of how the Romantic literary system actually worked... Mason persuasivley shows how thoroughly connected art and commerce became in the period despite Romantic posturing about artistic independence.

Literary Advertising and the Shaping of British Romanticism helpfully chronicles the rise of advertising in periodicals, highlighting its methods and subjects... A valuable book.

Mason's book is a timely corrective to the outdated idea that Romantic reviewing was a practice of nonstop aggression.

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About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
216
ISBN
9781421409986
Illustration Description
26 b&w illus.
Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Entangled Histories
1. Advertising in the Romantic Century
2. The Progress of Puffery
3. Building Brand Byron
4. L.E.L., Bandwagon Marketing, and the Rise of Visual Culture
5

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Entangled Histories
1. Advertising in the Romantic Century
2. The Progress of Puffery
3. Building Brand Byron
4. L.E.L., Bandwagon Marketing, and the Rise of Visual Culture
5. Puffery and the "Death" of Literature in Late-Romantic Britain
Conclusion: The Art of Advertising
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Author Bio
Nicholas Mason
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Nicholas Mason

Nicholas Mason is an associate professor of English at Brigham Young University.