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The Great Exchange: Making the news in early modern Europe, comes out in July, but I’ve been sent a review copy already. I haven’t read very much, but so far it’s a lively and informative read. The author, Joad Raymond Wren, is at pains to point out that this is not a book about the history of newspapers, but that of news. He maintains that the real history of news is not about a chronology of technological inventions.
It seems very interesting, including as it does pamphlets and even at least one diary or chronicle. Jan de Boer kept a diary in which he recorded news as well as personal activities.
So far, I’ve learnt that a few hundred years ago editors were more like collators. They would gather together bnits and pieces of news from various sources and writers and produce a pamphlet. There was no copyright or editorial stance as such.
Anyway, I’ll have more to say about this book once I’ve read rather more of it!