Printing investors and the religious book market in the Iberian early modern period

Abstract

This article proposes to study the commitment of individual merchants, mainly booksellers and printers, to the edition and trade of religious books in Iberia during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The interest of these investors in the lucrative printed book market was bigger than is usually assumed. As a matter of fact, they behaved as highly active agents and were responsible for making important decisions, including which authors and works were to be published, and which format and language was to be chosen. In addition, the article also presents cases of active involvement of clergymen and religious orders in the market of religious books.