Abstract
The emergence of a mass reading public during the early decades of the nineteenth century sparked a period of creative innovation in the popular press While today we might associate ‘new media’ with digital technologies, such innovations have a long history that precedes – and in many ways anticipates – the present moment. This collection reveals how the period between 1820 and 1845 was crucial in the development of the modern press, including experimentation with new publication formats; the reinvention and remediation of older forms; and the definition of new kinds of contributors and audiences for print. It brings to light the contributions of many important but long-forgotten writers, illustrators and editors who created and harnessed the idea of a mass reading public and shows how steam printing, popular education campaigns and new technologies of illustration led to new trends in book and periodical production.