Abstract

This contribution explores the cultural, economic, and social topography of the book
trade in the Habsburg Monarchy in the first half of the 18th century. It analyses the
crucial role of foreign booksellers at these markets, with a focus on Vienna and Prague.
Studying these important markets and long-distance trade relationships allow us to fully
grasp the importance of different centres of the book trade in the Holy Roman Empire. In
the late 17th century, the increasing diversity in the book trade led to intense competition.
Many booksellers invested in long-distance trading, with booksellers from Nuremberg,
Augsburg and Leipzig establishing stable business networks in the Austrian and Bohemian
lands. Frequently, they were adherents of the Protestant faith. While these publishing
houses had no qualms about producing pious and devotional literature for Catholics, as
market players, they were subject to trade restrictions. I intend to analyse the printed
book as a commodity, in order to comprehend the publishers’ practices and the networks
of the book trade. In my current research project, I will evaluate the book assortment according
to different content-based criteria, to assess those titles, with high sales rates, that
were wildly successful. My research sets itself apart from the general research interest in
an Enlightenment-oriented book market in the second half of the 18th century. It brings
the decades after 1680 to light as an instrumental period of change for the practices of
book trade. Beyond a traditional book history structured along the borders of present-day
nation states, the early modern economic and cultural spheres will be analysed on a transnational
and regional level, appropriate to the historical reality of this era.

Keywords: Book Trade, Central Europe, Habsburg Monarchy, 18th Century