Droste, Handwritten Newspapers - An Alternative Medium during the Early Modern and Modern Periods

This book is the first edited volume focusing on handwritten newspapers as an alternative medium from a wide interdisciplinary and international perspective. The primary focus is on handwritten newspapers as a social practice. The case studies contextualize the source materials in relation to political, cultural, literary, and economic history. The analysis reveals both continuity and change across the different forms and functions of the textual materials. The time span ranges from the 16th to the 20th century. During these centuries, handwritten newspapers changed from an expensive public commodity and a social gift for the elites to an internal or clandestine medium of communication for non-elite groups. The book targets researchers and students in media and literary history, and cultural and literacy studies.