Dreaming in Books: The Making of the Bibliographic Imagination in the Romantic Age

(University of Chicago Press) At the turn of the 19th century, Europeans and North Americans were making a remarkable social investment — both materially and imaginatively — in books. Piper tells the story of the book’s many identities at this time, examining novels, critical and collected editions, gift books, translations, illustrated books, and the communities who made them. He argues that people did not learn how to use books (and want to use books) just because of the technological, commercial, or legal conditions that made books more readily available, and he shows that romantic writing and writers played a pivotal role in helping readers to adapt to an increasingly international and bookish environment. Piper is an assistant professor in the German studies department at McGill University.