The untold story of how the Dutch conquered the European book market and became the world's greatest bibliophiles--"an instant classic on Dutch book history" (BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review) "[An] excellent contribution to book history."--Robert Darnton, New York Review of Books The Dutch Golden Age has long been seen as the age of Rembrandt and Vermeer, whose paintings captured the public imagination and came to represent the marvel that was the Dutch Republic. Yet there is another, largely overlooked marvel in the Dutch world of the seventeenth century: books. In this fascinating account, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen show how the Dutch produced many more books than pictures and bought and owned more books per capita than any other part of Europe. Key innovations in marketing, book auctions, and newspaper advertising brought stability to a market where elsewhere publishers faced bankruptcy, and created a population uniquely well-informed and politically engaged. This book tells for the first time the remarkable story of the Dutch conquest of the European book world and shows the true extent to which these pious, prosperous, quarrelsome, and generous people were shaped by what they read.

This edited collection offers in seventeen chapters the latest scholarship on book catalogues in early modern Europe. Contributors discuss the role that these catalogues played in bookselling and book auctions, as well as in guiding the tastes of book collectors and inspiring some of the greatest libraries of the era. Catalogues in the Low Countries, Britain, Germany, France and the Baltic region are studied as important products of the early modern book trade, and as reconstructive tools for the history of the book. These catalogues offer a goldmine of information on the business of books, and they allow scholars to examine questions on the distribution and ownership of books that would otherwise be extremely difficult to pursue. Contributors: Helwi Blom, Pierre Delsaerdt, Arthur der Weduwen, Anna E. de Wilde, Shanti Graheli, Ann-Marie Hansen, Rindert Jagersma, Graeme Kemp, Ian Maclean, Alicia C. Montoya, Andrew Pettegree, Philippe Schmid, Forrest C. Strickland, Jasna Tingle, Marieke van Egeraat, and Elise Watson.

Now--America's #1 marketer and consultant puts together the firstcomplete guide to catalog sales! Starting & Building YourCatalog Sales Business Some of America's best known and mostsuccessful businesses, such as Sears, Spiegel, L.L. Bean, andLands' End, are "catalog companies," earning a major percentage oftheir profits through catalog sales. If you're a business owner orentrepreneur, now you can do the same with the help of this book.Written by bestselling author Herman Holtz, Starting and BuildingYour Catalog Sales Business is a complete guide to catalog salesthat explains how to get started in and manage a catalog businessprofitably. Packed with anecdotes, worksheets, and examples drawnfrom successful catalog sales businesses, it explains: * The basics of direct-mail selling and catalog sales * The secrets to creating catalog copy that really sells * The essential elements in the catalog mailing--including how tocreate a strong sales letter and a user-friendly order form * How to choose and use the right mailing lists * Managing the two essentials of the catalog business: sales volumeand pricing