A Colonial Book Market is a detailed social history of the book in late colonial Peru. Agnes Gehbald argues that between 1760 and 1820 a diverse range of printed materials became increasingly accessible to different segments of the viceroyalty's population. Focusing on urban spaces, especially Lima, Gehbald demonstrates that women and men of different backgrounds actively engaged in Peru's print culture. As market agents, the book contends, Peruvians participated in the broader cultural movement of the Catholic Enlightenment.
Gehbald adopts a very broad definition of “books,” which encompasses not only traditional volumes but all kinds of printed commodities such as invitation cards and reading primers. By harnessing an impressive array of primary sources—including wills, inventories, Inquisition records, customs logs, and extant prints—she successfully tracks the circulation and utilization of print material in the colony. Gehbald also relies on a vast scholarship on books and the book market in Europe and...
