Literary Businesses: The British Publishing Industry and its Business Practices 1843–1900

Abstract

The Victorian publishing industry has been frequently analysed, debated and discussed within the fields of book history, publishing history, media studies and literary studies, yet there is a gap within academic business research on the publishing industry from the approach of organisational studies, in particular from the perspective of new institutionalism. This research examines how the business practices of organisations in the British publishing industry – which I refer to as literary businesses – developed in the Victorian era, by exploring the formation of these practices in relation to wider societal influences. My research analyses how authors, publishers and literary agents instigated and reproduced business practices in the industry, examining why these practices became accepted and legitimised. This historically oriented research is constructed around primary and archival sources, in particular trade periodicals, personal letters and business documents