Output details

Occasional publishers: producing and marketing books in England 1771–1844

This article uses extensive archival research to investigate the books printed and published by a series of related businesses owned by members of the Gye and Balne families. Related articles in the Journal of the Printing Historical Society, Baseline, and The Ephemerist examined the contributions of these printers to jobbing printing and in particular developments in typeface design, poster design, and colour printing. This essay was submitted to the Journal of Historical Research in Marketing because the research revealed that while in some cases the design of the books is of historical importance, the way in which they were marketed is of much greater significance. There has been very little research into marketing during the period in question. In part this is because there is a widely held view in general histories of marketing that before 1850 businesses were entirely focused on production and did not consider marketing strategies. The article clearly illustrates that this was not the case. In doing so it provides a model for further historical research and an example of how such research can illuminate the larger history of marketing and the way in which we understand the development of consumer society.