Spreading the Word: Scottish Publishers and English Literature 1750-1900

A disproportionate number of the great publishing houses of the English speaking world Blackie, Blackwood, Collins, Constable, Macmillan, Millqr, Murray, Nelson, Smith and Elder, Strahan) were founded after the Treaty of Union in 1707 by men, often of humble origins, from "north of the border." Many of the classic English writers from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century were encouraged by those running the companies to make literature in English accessible to all. Gossman's essay offers a comprehensive overview of this remarkable Scottish contribution to English literary history.

Lionel Gossman taught at Glasgow University, the Johns Hopkins University, and Princeton University, specializing in French literature of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries and in the theory and practice of historical scholarship and writing. He is the author of many journal articles and 16 books. Dr. Gossman was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1996.