Reading, Publishing and the Formation of Literary Taste in England, 1880-1914

Shortlisted for the SHARP/DeLong prize for the best book history monograph of 2006 'This splendid study recounts the ideological battleground of the fin-de-siecle when new literary tastes were being formed and the canon of modern English letters as we know it was being constructed. In this impeccably researched and exquisitely written book, Hammond shows herself to be that rare scholar, equal parts book historian, literary theorist, and critic of novelistic form. She vividly uncovers the public spheres in which the novel circulated in late Victorian England. Every study of English modernism will have to contend with Hammond's keen account that links modernism closely to its late Victorian predecessors and to the cut and thrust of a marketplace of print and prestige. Every book historian and literary scholar will have to take note of Hammond's innovations with the archive and the vistas they open.' Priya Joshi, Temple University, USA 'The book is aimed squarely at an academic market and will be required reading for those studying the publishing history of the period... The chapters on the free library system, the rise of W.H. Smith and Oxford University Press's role in popularising classic literature are particularly interesting and display a great breadth of scholarship...' Rare Books Newsletter '... this is a valuable work whose case study examples open out our understanding of the role played by production, distribution and reception in catering for or denying general British reading public interests and tastes... It is well worth a read.' Review of English Studies 'Hammond's study illuminates the rich world of the period's printing culture, so much of which is unseen today... this is [...] the value of Hammond's book, which both sheds new light on the dimmer reaches of that literary environment and also invites further explorations of its contours.' English Literature in Transition