Bookstores, we know some, we have known some and we hope that we will know some.
But where do bookstores come from? How did they make this place in the Frenchcommercial landscape? How have they been influenced by the development of newbusiness practices? That's all Patricia Sorel tries to answer in her book. ----For anyone who frequents the current bookstores a little, even the most modest,it is difficult to imagine what these small shops could be which, with thedevelopment of the printing press, will flourish in university towns at the endof the Middle Ages. -Age. It is not uncommon to find only a few books, sometimesten at most, which can be bought and even hired (on site or to take away!).But already the right to sell books (like that of printing them) was extremelylimited and the booksellers of the time had to organize themselves to face thecompetition. They (women can become a bookseller in the event of widowhood) havea lot to do in this area; there are street vendors, who can sometimes offer somebooks on their stalls. And there is international competition: French bookstoreshave to deal with English, Dutch, Swiss, German, etc. productions.Patricia Sorel presents us in clear and concise chapters the evolution ofbookstores, which will take time to really become democratized. Until the 1930s(and even beyond) the bookstore was a place for the privileged. The sector willhave to evolve. And quick. The development of supermarkets at the end of the1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, whether they are specialized in culture(such as FNAC) or whether they decide to have significant cultural departments,the appearance of large conglomerates editions (Hachette or Gallimard forexample) will force bookstores to adapt. All this will once again be called intoquestion by the sudden arrival of online commerce.Is the resistance getting organized ?So to survive, independent bookstores are getting organized. They regroup. Fightto obtain and enforce the single price of the book. But at what cost? This workignores an analysis of the working conditions of booksellers. Yet there would bemore to say, all the more so with the Covid crisis.In summary, this book provides a panoramic vision of the bookstore in France fromits beginnings to the present day (the author ends with solid reflections on thedigital book). Small disappointment, it is very little mentioned activistbookstores, if not very briefly with La Joie de lire by François Maspero. Too badbecause there would surely be a lot to say about these popular education spacesthat activists have been bringing to life for several decades, especially amongthe libertarians!Jon (UCL Angers)Patricia Sorel, A Little History of the French Bookstore , La Fabrique, January2021, 237 pages, 15 euroshttps://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Lire-Patricia-Sorel-Petite-histoire-de-la-librairie-francaise_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten