With the overwhelming amount of new information that bombards us each day, it is perhaps difficult to imagine a time when the widespread availability of the printed word was a novelty. In early nineteenth-century Britain, print was not novel - Gutenberg's printing press had been around for nearly four centuries - but printed matter was still a rare and relatively expensive luxury. All this changed, however, as publishers began employing new technologies to astounding effect, producing cheap instructive texts and revolutionizing how knowledge was disseminated to the masses. In "Steam-Powered Knowledge", Aileen Fyfe explores the activities of William Chambers and the W. & R. Chambers publishing firm during its formative years, documenting for the first time how new technologies - not just in communication, but also in transportation - were integrated into existing business systems.
Fyfe follows Chambers' journey from small-time bookseller and self-trained hand-press printer to wealthy and successful publisher of popular educational books on both sides of the Atlantic, demonstrating along the way the profound effects of his and his fellow publishers' willingness, or unwillingness, to incorporate these innovations into their businesses.