A Return to the Common Reader Print Culture and the Novel, 1850-1900

In 1957, Richard Altick's groundbreaking work The English Common Reader transformed the study of book history. Inspired by Altick's research, but digging deep into the neglected records of prison libraries, army barracks or convict ships the authors of A Return to the Common Reader dramatically reconfigure our understanding of the ordinary Victorian readers whose efforts and choices changed our literary culture forever.