The Reading Mania

Through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, literacy rates rose as churches set up schools in villages. By the end of the eighteenth century, literacy in some parts of Europe was as high as 60 to 80 per cent, and there was a virtual reading mania.

New forms of popular literature appeared. Booksellers employed pedlars who carried little books to villages — almanacs, ballads and folk tales. In England, penny chapbooks were sold by pedlars called chapmen for a penny; in France there was the Bibliotheque Bleue (cheap books in blue covers). The periodical press developed from the early eighteenth century, combining news with entertainment, and the ideas of scientists and thinkers like Isaac Newton, Thomas Paine, Voltaire and Rousseau reached a wide public.

'Tremble, Therefore, Tyrants of the World!'

By the mid-eighteenth century, there was a common conviction that books were a means of spreading progress and enlightenment, and that they could liberate society from despotism and tyranny. The French novelist Louise-Sebastien Mercier declared: 'The printing press is the most powerful engine of progress and public opinion is the force that will sweep despotism away.'

In his novels the heroes are transformed by reading. Convinced of the power of print, Mercier proclaimed: 'Tremble, therefore, tyrants of the world! Tremble before the virtual writer!'

Print Culture and the French Revolution

Many historians argue that print culture created the conditions for the French Revolution, through three arguments:

  • First, print popularised the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers, who argued for the rule of reason rather than custom and attacked the sacred authority of the Church and the despotic power of the state. The writings of Voltaire and Rousseau were widely read.
  • Second, print created a new culture of dialogue and debate, in which all values and institutions were re-evaluated by a public aware of the power of reason.
  • Third, by the 1780s there was an outpouring of literature that mocked the royalty and criticised their morality, raising questions about the social order.

But we must remember that people did not read only one kind of literature — they were also exposed to royal and Church propaganda, and interpreted things in their own way. Print did not directly shape minds, but it opened up the possibility of thinking differently.

Questions and Answers

Q1. What is meant by the 'reading mania' of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries? Ans. As literacy rose (to 60–80 per cent in some parts by the late eighteenth century), people eagerly wanted books to read, and printers produced them in ever-increasing numbers — a virtual reading mania, met by chapbooks, almanacs, ballads and the periodical press.

Q2. What were chapbooks and the Bibliotheque Bleue? Ans. Chapbooks were cheap pocket-sized books sold in England by pedlars called chapmen for a penny, so even the poor could buy them. The Bibliotheque Bleue were low-priced small books in France, printed on poor paper and bound in cheap blue covers.

Questions and Answers (continued)

Q3. Why did some people in eighteenth-century Europe believe print would bring enlightenment and end despotism? Ans. They believed books could spread progress and reason and liberate society from tyranny. As Mercier said, 'The printing press is the most powerful engine of progress and public opinion is the force that will sweep despotism away' — hence 'Tremble, therefore, tyrants of the world!'

Q4. Give the three arguments that print culture created the basis for the French Revolution. Ans. (1) Print popularised Enlightenment ideas (Voltaire, Rousseau), which attacked tradition and despotism; (2) it created a new culture of dialogue and debate; and (3) by the 1780s, literature mocking the royalty spread hostility towards the monarchy.

Questions and Answers (continued)

Q5. Did print directly cause the French Revolution? Explain. Ans. Not directly. People did not read only one kind of literature — they were also exposed to royal and Church propaganda — and they interpreted things in their own way, accepting some ideas and rejecting others. Print did not directly shape minds, but it opened up the possibility of thinking differently.