[Nick McRae]

https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/collex/...iterary-world/

Nineteenth-century print culture was a product of and participant in the dramatic changes taking place throughout English society. The growth of literacy greatly increased the number of readers, especially among the middle- and working-classes, while industrialization in every sector of the book trade reduced production costs for books, pamphlets, newspapers, and periodicals and made very large print runs possible. The production of all forms of printed materials, from religious works, political tracts, and children's books to fiction and poetry grew dramatically. Estimates are that the rate of publication was approximately 500 titles a year at the beginning of the nineteenth century to about 4,000 by mid-century and around 10,000 a year by 1914.

During the nineteenth century, poets achieved a level of stature and celebrity unknown before or since, both for their works and their lives. This would not have been possible without a robust print culture that brought both to the attention of an eager reading public.