{"product_id":"reading-matters-five-centuries-of-discovering-books-9780300127294","title":"Reading Matters: Five Centuries of Discovering Books","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt is easy to forget in our own day of cheap paperbacks and mega-bookstores that  until very recently  books were luxury items. Those who could not afford to buy had to borrow  share  obtain secondhand  inherit  or listen to others reading. This book examines how people acquired and read books from the sixteenth century to the present  focusing on the personal relationships between readers and the volumes they owned. Margaret Willes considers a selection of private and public libraries across the periodmost of which have survivedshowing the diversity of book owners and borrowers  from country-house aristocrats to modest farmers  from Regency ladies of leisure to working men and women. Exploring the collections of avid readers such as Samuel Pepys  Thomas Jefferson  Sir John Soane  Thomas Bewick  and Denis and Edna Healey  Margaret Willes also investigates the means by which books were sold  lending fascinating insights into the ways booksellers and publishers marketed their wares. For those who are interested in books and reading  and especially those who treasure books  this book and its bounty of illustrations will inform  entertain  and inspire.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45279769886773,"sku":"ByrdShop_0300127294","price":27.48,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780300127294.jpg?v=1780609664","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/reading-matters-five-centuries-of-discovering-books-9780300127294","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}