Literary Print Culture: The Stationers' Company Archive (Adam Matthew)

The "Literary Print Culture" database collects files and directories of the "Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers". Founded in 1403, the members of the Guild of Booksellers (abbreviated: Stationers' Company) were granted a monopoly over printing and publishing in England in parts of the 16th and 17th centuries. The guild thus played a central role in the development of press censorship and copyright. In addition to numerous other archival documents (lists of members, court records, etc.), the database makes the "Stationers' Company Register" digitally accessible. This register lists almost all books printed in London between 1577 and 1924 and functioned as a censorship instrument and an early copyright register.

The Stationers’ Company Archive is one of the most important resources for understanding the workings of the early book trade, the printing and publishing community, the establishment of legal requirements for copyright provisions and the history of bookbinding.