Who sold and printed chapbooks?

Title page of: The history of the seven wise masters of RomeChapbooks were distributed by chapmen, pedlars and hawkers who, according to John Ashton in his 1882 work Chap-books of the eighteenth century were defined as ‘travelling, flying’ or running stationers’ by the people of the period.

These merchants travelled across the country, through rural and urban regions, to sell their wares and produce, with one of their stock items being the chapbook. On their travels, they would often stop in small village communities, where there were few markets for recreational goods and no bookshops, to sell their cheap print. For this reason, 17th century country-folk relied on itinerant pedlars and chapmen to access information and entertainment.

Lori Newcomb claims that the chapmen played a crucial role in the distribution of these chapbooks ‘through social and geographic space.’ Chapmen served as a gateway for readers to connect with each other through different stories, despite differences of social class and gender. Chapmen would travel through ‘geographic space’ by physically travelling to rural areas to sell chapbooks at the fairs, while in London, they could be found at street corners or delivering these short stories to children from upper-class families, therefore travelling through ‘social space’ as well.

Whilst chapmen were sent across England to distribute their wares, printers and booksellers alike worked together to produce and distribute chapbooks. Printers would use ink, paper, and printing presses to create multiple copies of stories and were able to produce large quantities of chapbooks at low cost, while booksellers served as the intermediary between printers and chapmen, being responsible for the purchase of material from printers and selling them in shops or passing copies to chapmen for further dissemination.

Most of the chapbooks held at the Foyle Special Collections Library were printed and sold within the vicinity of Westminster and the City of London, and imprints showing places like Shoe Lane, Fleet Street or Bow Churchyard are common. Although some printers and booksellers remained anonymous, certain chapbooks do contain information on the identities of those involved in their production and distribution. The title page of the The seven wise masters of Rome reveals that the story was ‘Printed and sold by T Sabine, No 81, Shoe-Lane, and E Sibley, Bookseller, No. 29, Brick Lane, Spital-Fields.’

The collaborative efforts of printers, booksellers and chapmen served as a significant factor in introducing access to literature, knowledge, and information during this era.

Further information

For further information please contact us ›