Readers’ Preferences in the Light of the Recovered Lists of Subscribers

In her article, the author discusses the problems of readership and book advertising in the 18th century, both of which issues have been relatively little investigated so far. The article constitutes an attempt to present a sociological classification of readership groups, on the basis of the located sources: press announcements, leaflets and lists of subscribers. An analysis of the inventory of works appearing in the form of subscriptions allows one to draw certain hypotheses concerning the popularity of the individual titles. The applied division into religious, political-legal and informative books, as well as literature and scientific publications, allows one to take a closer look at the various groups of readers, also taking into account the interests in various types of writing.

In her article, the author discusses the problems of readership and book advertising in the 18th century, both of which issues have been relatively little investigated so far. The article constitutes an attempt to present a sociological classification of readership groups, on the basis of the located sources: press announcements, leaflets and lists of subscribers. An analysis of the inventory of works appearing in the form of subscriptions allows one to draw certain hypotheses concerning the popularity of the individual titles. The applied division into religious, political-legal and informative books, as well as literature and scientific publications, allows one to take a closer look at the various groups of readers, also taking into account the interests in various types of writing.