Rediscovering Chapbooks

In the 1600's most cultured socialites consideredconsidered desirable folk art and are appreciated in
chapbooks vulgar. These 'flimsy' booklets were oftenways the original authors would find surprising.
sold in less than reputable establishments andChapbooks Today
contained a variety of less than quality poetry, stories,In the twenty-first century chapbooks are seeing a
ballads and political dissent. Often filled with spellingprominence they have not seen in the past.
mistakes, factual blunders and little in the way of qualityToday chapbooks are successfully used to promote
assurance these chapbooks often connected with thean author's poetry or short stories. They are marketed
uncultured alone.online and in specialty shops. Some chapbook
Today you will find several colleges that are workingdevelopers have used the work for philanthropic
to collect copies of aging chapbooks. Internationalpurposes while others have funded group projects and
universities have collections of hundred and eventhe distribution of personal writings.
thousands of these manuscripts.A fundraising effort for families involved in the Sego
What are chapbooks?Mining Disaster in West Virginia saw a poetry
This type of literature provides a relatively smallchapbook used to provide needed finances for those
grouping of thoughts or poetry in a booklet form that isdealing with loss.
generally unacceptable in traditional book markets. TheWith the advent of easy-to-use publishing programs
length of a chapbook rarely exceeds 50 pages andand printers who can mass-produce a chapbook at
can be assembled using a home printer and publishingreasonable prices, there are more people than ever
software or using an office supply store that provideslooking to impact others through the distribution of
copying services.chapbooks.
Chapbook HistoryChapbook Future
In the past these booklets were sold by peddlers toSome chapbooks may be downloadable through PDF
others who enjoyed the simplified nature of the work.technology while other writers of chapbooks may
Some chapbooks were purchased if only becausemove solidly toward ebook technology in the future in
paper was scarce and the pages of the chapbookan effort to distribute their chapbooks thus avoiding
were used to wrap food items for transport.paper distribution entirely.
Chapbooks have historically received very little respectIt is safe to presume that the time-honored tradition of
and ultimately faded away for a time with the adventchapbooks will see these little publications delight,
of mass produced newspapers and other periodicals.encourage and challenge readers for centuries to
In many respects historical chapbooks are nowcome.