Book History is the official print publication of SHARP. This semiannual publication is devoted to every aspect of the history of the book, broadly defined as the history of the creation, dissemination, and reception of script and print. First published in 1998 under the joint editorship of Ezra Greenspan and Jonathan Rose, Book History was selected by the Council of Editors of Learned Journals as the “Best New Journal” of 1999. The awards committee praised its “impressive range” and “sustained engagement with the subject,” and predicted “real staying power on the academic landscape.” The journal has fulfilled this early promise and become a well-established and influential leader in its field.
Want to know what Book History publishes? Browse the tables of contents on Project Muse!
Access
SHARP membership includes a subscription to print and digital copies of Book History. The full text of the journal is accessible online to SHARP members or subscribers (independently or via institutional access) on Project Muse. (SHARP members can access the journal by going to https://muse.jhu.edu and logging in with their SHARP username and password.)
Submit
Submissions are always welcome! Contributions to Book History are accepted on a rolling basis, and the journal is open to all disciplines and methodologies. English-language articles that deal with any literary culture and any historical period will be considered.
Graduate students and early career researchers are particularly encouraged to submit. The Greenspan–Rose Book History Essay Prize is awarded annually to an outstanding graduate student essay submitted to Book History with the competition open to anyone pursuing a course of graduate studies at the time of submission.
Authors interested in submitting to Book History should be sure to consult the Author Guidelines. Articles should be submitted via the electronic submission portal.
Translated articles that have been previously published in a language other than English can be considered by Book History’s sister publication Lingua Franca.
Submission queries can be sent directly to the Book History editors:
- Greg Barnhisel (barnhiselg@duq.edu) for articles dealing with the Americas
- Beth le Roux (beth.leroux@up.ac.za) for articles dealing with Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Pacific, and global issues
- Yuri Cowan (yuri.cowan@ntnu.no) for articles dealing with Europe
Open Access & Archival Policies
Book History conforms to the green model of Open Access. This means authors can archive the final manuscript pre-print and/or post-print versions—not the published PDF—on their own personal website, departmental website or institutional repository, or a non-profit server. Publisher copyright and source must be acknowledged.
SHARP recognizes the importance of archives for future generations. In this spirit, SHARP’s documents are archived in the Department of Special Collections and University Archives of the University Libraries at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with an online finding aid. Submissions and correspondence relating to Book History will be archived and made available to researchers after a 25-year period. Researchers given access will be required to contact any involved parties before citation/publication of material.
Archival queries can be sent to SHARP’s Recording Secretary (secretary@sharpweb.org).