This article explores the theoretical strands and methodological possibilities for the study of the consumption of popular print in the pre-modern age. The first section explores general approaches and cross-disciplinary angles to the field. The second section looks at core methodologies in approaching the multi-faceted issue of consumption of popular print. The third section offers a comparative discussion of pan-European themes, including literacy and schooling, the sociality of reading and consumption, the weight of restrictions and emancipation in regulating access to print, and the materialities of consumption as a physical, multisensory experience.
This essay originates from a wider investigation of the circulation and consumption of Italian books in French Renaissance libraries. It draws upon, and adds to, research undertaken for the author's doctoral thesis, 'The Circulation and Collection of Italian Printed Books in France in the Sixteenth Century' (St Andrews, 2015). This is currently being revised for publication under the title Italian Books and the French Renaissance (Leiden, 2018). It will be the first systematic study of the dissemination of Italian printed books in sixteenth-century France. 2 Among the studies on political and cultural exchanges between the Italian and French territories during this period, see:
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