Question

short note on reading mania

Answer 1

i. Through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, literacy rates went up in most parts of Europe. Churches of different denominations set up schools in villages, carrying literacy to peasants and artisans.
ii . By the end of the eighteenth century, in some parts of Europe literacy rates were as high as 60to 80 per cent. As literacy and schools spread in European countries, there was a virtual reading mania. People wanted books to read and printers produced books in ever increasing numbers.
iii. New forms of popular literature appeared in print, targeting new audiences. Booksellers employed peddlers who roamed around villages, carrying little books for sale. There were almanacs or ritual calendars, along with ballads and folktales. But other forms of reading matter,largely for entertainment, began to reach ordinary readers as Well.
iv. Then there were the romances, printed on four to six pages, and the more substantial histories which were stories about the past. Books were of various sizes, serving many different purposes and interests