La política del libro y las ferias del libro de Madrid (1901-1936)

Abstract

This study is about book politics in Spain in the first third of the Twentieth century, focusing on the celebration of the Book Fairs (Ferias del Libro) in the republican Madrid. «Book politics» means the public and private plans as a whole that helped towards the diffusion of the printed matters in the Spanish society. It explains the professional and corporate connections between publishers and booksellers about the production, distribution and sale of publications, without forgetting the role played by the state. In this particular stance it tackles how their associations became professional, the differences between them, and the absence of regulation in books’ marketing and retail. As a matter of fact the birth of the Book Fairs unleashed a fight inside the Official Chamber of Publishers and Booksellers (Cámara Oficial del Libro) in Madrid, but in the same time they made easy the social diffusion of the book. Other discussed subjects are the founding of the Book Fair in 1926 and the creation of the Spanish Book Institute (Instituto del Libro Español) in 1935.