This project investigates the phenomenon of the Paperback Revolution—the transition of the book from an expensive, somewhat status-laden object to a mass-market and accessible format.
Until the 20th century, the book remained a relatively expensive and not always accessible object. High production costs, complex typesetting and printing, expensive materials, and binding limited its mass distribution. In the 19th century, the development of industrial printing and the rise in literacy gradually made books more accessible. Cheap, serialized editions, newspaper formats, and the first mass-market book series emerged.
However, it was in the first half of the 20th century that the conditions emerged for a fundamental shift in the book market: the book began to be viewed as an accessible product for mass consumption.
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