Name: Railway libraries and the yellow-back revolution
Start: 2024-06-06T19:30:00+01:00
Location: St John the Baptist, Hove

Get your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/railway-libraries-and-the-yellow-back-revolution-tickets-865938313807
While today railway bookstalls may seem commonplace, even unfashionable, they were once in the vanguard of a thoroughly modern revolution. As the chief retailers of yellow-backs, the cheap, often sensational page-turners that became a mainstay of nineteenth century publishing, railway libraries fostered a publishing bonanza. They became enablers of the Victorian craze for stories of mystery, skulduggery, melodrama, and adventure, while also typifying the development of a modern 'mass' market. Professor John Spiers, co-founder of Edward Everett Root publishers, uncovers this surprising tale of brazen best-sellers in the machine age.
We are delighted to bring this illustrated talk to the Curious Histories lecture programme at St. John's church, by the floral clock in Hove.
All our events at St John's are free to attend, with a retiring collection for charity. Ample refreshment will be provided at our bar, serving both alcoholic and soft drinks, which takes cash and cards. Doors and bar open at 7.15pm and the talk begins at 7.30pm.