In Good Company

Abstract

Throughout the eighteenth century, the business of reprinting books was associated with abridging texts. However unusual it may seem today, the copyholder’s property right in a ‘thoughtful abridgment’ of another’s text was commonly protected by law. This chapter examines the abridging activities of John Wesley, and of a variety of other actors in such areas as law and history, medicine and science, philosophy and theology, biography and fiction. Publishing ‘epitomes’ of proven sellers posed less financial risk than publishing new titles. Considering the extracts and abridgements that characterized so much of eighteenth-century newspapers and periodicals helps us understand how such practices were a routine part of the circulation and consumption of print. Abridgments of provincial publishers can be particularly instructive, as these are commonly adjusted in length and format to suit the productive capacity of the local printer and/or the buying power of consumers in the local market.