Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Book fair
(876 words)

1. The fairs of Frankfurt and Leipzig

The sale of manuscripts at the general goods fair of the conveniently-located town of Frankfurt is already attested for the 14th century. Printed books are known to have been sold there by the pioneer publisher Peter Schöffer of Mainz from the 1460s. Although the trade was mainly itinerant (Book trade), the Frankfurt Messe was already attracting paper merchants and printer-publishers from northern and southern Germany (e.g. Basel, Lübeck, Nuremberg)…

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Schneider, Ute, “Book fair”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_017859>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160907



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