Ian Maclean is Titular Professor of Renaissance Studies at the University of Oxford.

Vividly written and masterfully researched, this book tells of the travails of scholarly publication even in its heyday in the late Renaissance. With clarity and nuance Maclean explains the economic and intellectual constraints on the production and trade in learned books in an age of religious conflict and the ingenious tricks devised to help books sell across long distances and spans of time. Maclean skillfully combines quantitative data with attention to specific examples—of hopeful authors, harried printers and shady middlemen.

Ian Maclean is Titular Professor of Renaissance Studies at the University of Oxford.

Vividly written and masterfully researched, this book tells of the travails of scholarly publication even in its heyday in the late Renaissance. With clarity and nuance Maclean explains the economic and intellectual constraints on the production and trade in learned books in an age of religious conflict and the ingenious tricks devised to help books sell across long distances and spans of time. Maclean skillfully combines quantitative data with attention to specific examples—of hopeful authors, harried printers and shady middlemen.

Ian Maclean is Titular Professor of Renaissance Studies at the University of Oxford.

Vividly written and masterfully researched, this book tells of the travails of scholarly publication even in its heyday in the late Renaissance. With clarity and nuance Maclean explains the economic and intellectual constraints on the production and trade in learned books in an age of religious conflict and the ingenious tricks devised to help books sell across long distances and spans of time. Maclean skillfully combines quantitative data with attention to specific examples—of hopeful authors, harried printers and shady middlemen.