Dr. Alexis Easley’s edited book British Writers, Popular Literature and New Media Innovation, 1820-45 has just been published by Edinburgh University Press.
Easley is a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, where she teaches English and communication studies.
The emergence of a mass reading public during the early decades of the 19th century sparked a period of creative innovation in the popular press. Easley’s book serves as the first edited essay collection of its kind to focus on innovators and innovations in the mass-market press from 1820–45.
As one reviewer describes it: “From penny bloods and religious tracts to weekly periodicals and humorous annuals filled with woodcut illustrations, these essays tell a compelling tale about how popular media forms grew and thrived. Offering an enlightening analysis of popular publishing, the contributors resituate the period as one that is essential to understanding not only 19th-century publishing, but also our own digital media environment.”
