This edited volume provides an opportunity to take a fresh look at the printed material often regarded as disposable by its contemporaries and, until recently, as unworthy of serious academic research. From the fifteenth century to the twentieth century, this volume not only demonstrates the wide variety of ephemeral publications which have survived to the present day, but also shows how they can be used to interpret history and printing history and culture in particular. Some of the forms of printed ephemera discussed will be familiar to scholars such as chapbooks and commercially printed posters whilst others, such as papal indulgences and bellman’s sheets are more unusual. The collection discusses the production, distribution and consumption of ephemera, including how it can be used demonstrate changes to print culture over time. This volume aims to demonstrate that printed ephemera, in its many and varied forms, is worthy of serious academic study.

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Transient Print: essays on the history of printed ephemera