Fictive People, A: Antebellum Economic Development and the American Reading Public (Electronic book text)

This work aims to explode two notions that are commonplace in American cultural histories of the 19th century: first, that the spread of literature was a simple force for the democratization of taste, and second, that there was a body of 19th century literature that reflected "a nation of readers." It shows that the output of the press was so diverse and the public so indiscriminate in what it would read that these conclusions must be reassessed.