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38-553: Chapbook is first attested in English in 1824, and seemingly derives from chapman , the word for the itinerant salesmen who would sell such books. The first element of chapman comes in turn from Old English cēap 'barter', 'business', 'dealing', from which the modern adjective cheap was ultimately derived. Chapbooks correspond to Spanish Cordel literature , and to French bibliothèque bleue 'blue library' literature, because they were often wrapped in cheap blue paper that

76-452: A broadcloth weaver takes over his business and marries his widow on his death. On achieving success, he is liberal to the poor and refuses a knighthood for his substantial services to the king. Other examples from the Pepys collection include The Countryman's Counsellor, or Everyman his own Lawyer , and Sports and Pastimes , written for schoolboys, including magic tricks, like how to "fetch

114-468: A customer, one with whom to bargain. The word was applied to hawkers of chapbooks , broadside ballads , and similar items. Their stock in trade provides a graphic insight into the methods of political and religious campaigners of the Civil War period, for example. Chapman is also a common personal name of the class derived from trades. This job-, occupation-, or vocation-related article

152-701: A halfpenny each. The probate inventory of the stock of Charles Tias, of The sign of the Three Bibles on London Bridge, in 1664 included books and printed sheets to make approximately 90,000 chapbooks (including 400 reams of paper) and 37,500 ballad sheets. Tias was not regarded as an outstanding figure in the trade. The inventory of Josiah Blare, of The Sign of the Looking Glass on London Bridge, in 1707 listed 31,000 books, plus 257 reams of printed sheets. A conservative estimate of sales in Scotland alone in

190-536: A ha’porth of wit and intelligence to talk to." "…and saying it doesn't make a halfpennyworth of difference!" (from Alan Bennett's A lady of Letters , written and produced in 1987, some sixteen years after decimalisation and three years after the New Halfpenny—(i.e. the decimal ⁠ 1 / 2 ⁠ p)—had been demonetised and withdrawn from circulation, thus further illustrating the continued traditional or idiomatic two-syllable pronunciation ). Also used in

228-443: A scholarly interest in the form. Modern small literary presses, such as Louffa Press , Black Lawrence Press and Ugly Duckling Presse , continue to issue several small editions of chapbooks a year, updated in technique and materials, often to high fabrication standards, such as letterpress . Chapbooks were cheap, anonymous publications that were the usual reading material for lower-class people who could not afford books. Members of

266-453: A shilling out of a handkerchief", write invisibly, make roses out of paper, snare wild duck, and make a maid-servant fart uncontrollably. The provinces and Scotland had their own local heroes. Robert Burns commented that one of the first two books he read in private was "the history of Sir William Wallace ... poured a Scottish prejudice in my veins which will boil along there till the flood-gates of life shut in eternal rest". Chapbooks had

304-468: A wide and continuing influence. Eighty percent of English folk songs collected by early-20th-century collectors have been linked to printed broadsides, including over 90 of which could only be derived from those printed before 1700. It has been suggested the majority of surviving ballads can be traced to 1550–1600 by internal evidence. One of the most popular and influential chapbooks was Richard Johnson's Seven Champions of Christendom (1596), believed to be

342-505: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Halfpenny (British pre-decimal coin) The British pre-decimal halfpenny , (pronounced / ˈ h eɪ p ən i / ), once abbreviated ob. (from the Latin 'obulus'), is a discontinued denomination of sterling coinage worth ⁠ 1 / 480 ⁠ of one pound , ⁠ 1 / 24 ⁠ of one shilling , or ⁠ 1 / 2 ⁠ of one penny . Originally

380-519: Is a rare example of a word in the English language that has a silent ' f '. Before Decimal Day in 1971, sterling used the Carolingian monetary system , under which the largest unit was a pound divided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence . Each penny was further divided into 4 farthings, thus a pound contained 480 halfpennies and a shilling contained 24 halfpennies. The original reverse of

418-419: Is also a term currently used to denote publications of up to about 40 pages, usually poetry bound with some form of saddle stitch , though many are perfect bound , folded, or wrapped. These publications range from low-cost productions to finely produced, hand-made editions that may sell to collectors for hundreds of dollars. More recently, the popularity of fiction and non-fiction chapbooks has also increased. In

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456-798: The Golden Hind . George VI issue coins feature the inscription GEORGIVS VI D G BR OMN REX F D IND IMP before 1949, and GEORGIVS VI D G BR OMN REX FIDEI DEF thereafter. Unlike the penny, halfpennies were minted throughout the early reign of Elizabeth II, bearing the inscription ELIZABETH II DEI GRA BRITT OMN REGINA F D in 1953, and ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F D thereafter. Ha’porth : British English i.e. ' halfpenny-worth' or ' halfpennyworth' pronounced / ˈ h eɪ p ə θ / . In literal use usually written out in full although still never pronounced phonetically : e.g. "A halfpennyworth of chips." In figurative use usually said disparagingly: e.g. "I've been dying for somebody with

494-515: The 16th and the early 20th centuries. They preceded chapbooks but had similar content, marketing, and distribution systems. There are records from Cambridgeshire as early as in 1553 of a man offering a scurrilous ballad "maistres mass" at an alehouse , and a pedlar selling "lytle books" to people, including a patcher of old clothes in 1578. These sales are probably characteristic of the market for chapbooks. The form factor originated in Britain, but

532-463: The Danish capital Copenhagen has a similar origin, being derived from Køpmannæhafn , meaning "merchants' harbour" or "buyer's haven". By 1600, the word chapman had come to be applied to an itinerant dealer in particular, but it remained in use for "customer, buyer" as well as "merchant" in the 17th and 18th centuries. The slang term for man, "chap" arose from the use of the abbreviated word to mean

570-475: The Dutch koopman and German Kaufmann with the same meaning. Old English céap meant "deal, barter, business". The modern adjective cheap is a comparatively recent development from the phrase a good cheap , literally "a good deal" (cf. modern Dutch goedkoop = cheap). The word also appears in names such as Cheapside , Eastcheap , Chepstow and the prefix Chipping : all markets or dealing places. The name of

608-619: The Humanities at the City University of New York Graduate Center has held the NYC/CUNY Chapbook Festival, focused on "the chapbook as a work of art, and as a medium for alternative and emerging writers and publishers". Chapmen A chapman (plural chapmen ) was an itinerant dealer or hawker in early modern Britain . Old English céapmann was the regular term for "dealer, seller", cognate with

646-985: The Pepys collection, Charles I , and Oliver Cromwell do not appear as historical figures, The Wars of the Roses and the English Civil War do not appear at all, Elizabeth I appears only once, and Henry VIII and Henry II appear in disguise, standing up for the right with cobblers and millers and then inviting them to court and rewarding them. There was a pattern of high born heroes overcoming reduced circumstances by valour, such as Saint George , Guy of Warwick , Robin Hood , and heroes of low birth who achieve status through force of arms, such as Clim of Clough, and William of Cloudesley. Clergy often appear as figures of fun, and foolish countrymen were also popular (e.g., The Wise Men of Gotham ). Other works were aimed at regional and rural audience (e.g., The Country Mouse and

684-575: The Town Mouse ). From 1597 works were published that were aimed at specific trades, such as cloth merchants , weavers and shoemakers . The latter were commonly literate. Thomas Deloney, a weaver, wrote Thomas of Reading , about six clothiers from Reading , Gloucester , Worcester , Exeter , Salisbury and Southampton , traveling together and meeting at Basingstoke their fellows from Kendal , Manchester and Halifax . In his Jack of Newbury , set during Henry VIII 's reign, an apprentice to

722-463: The UK they are more often referred to as pamphlets . The genre has been revitalized in the past 40 years by the widespread availability of first mimeograph technology, then low-cost copy centres and digital printing, and by the cultural revolutions spurred by both zines and poetry slams , the latter generating hundreds upon hundreds of self-published chapbooks that are used to fund tours. The Center for

760-454: The bronze version of the coin, designed by Leonard Charles Wyon , is a seated Britannia , holding a trident, with the words HALF PENNY to either side. Issues before 1895 also feature a lighthouse to Britannia's left and a ship to her right. Various minor adjustments to the level of the sea depicted around Britannia, and the angle of her trident were also made over the years. Some issues feature toothed edges, while others feature beading. Over

798-476: The chapbook and ballad production was London, and until the Great Fire of London in 1666 the printers were based around London Bridge . However, a feature of chapbooks is the proliferation of provincial printers, especially in Scotland and Newcastle upon Tyne . The first Scottish publication was the tale of Tom Thumb , in 1682. Chapbooks were an important medium for the dissemination of popular culture to

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836-470: The common people, especially in rural areas. They were a medium of entertainment and information. Though the content of chapbooks has been criticized as unsophisticated narratives which were heavily loaded with repetition and emphasized adventure through mostly anecdotal structures, they are valued as a record of popular culture, preserving cultural artefacts that may not survive in any other form. Chapbooks were priced for sales to workers, although their market

874-562: The development of literacy, and there is evidence of their use by autodidacts . In the 1660s, as many as 400,000 almanacs were printed annually, enough for one family in three in England. One 17th-century publisher of chapbooks in London stocked one book for every 15 families in the country. In the 1520s the Oxford bookseller John Dorne noted in his day-book selling up to 190 ballads a day at

912-405: The halfpenny was minted in copper, but after 1860 it was minted in bronze. In the run-up to decimalisation , it ceased to be legal tender from 31 July 1969 (although halfpennies dated 1970 were minted as part of a final pre-decimal commemorative set). The halfpenny featured two different designs on its reverse during its years in circulation. From 1672 until 1936 the image of Britannia appeared on

950-455: The king (who considered this to be his better side, and consequently broke the tradition of alternating the direction in which the monarch faces on coins – some viewed this as indicating bad luck for the reign); the inscription on the obverse is EDWARDVS VIII D G BR OMN REX F D IND IMP . The pattern coin of Edward VIII and regular issue halfpennies of George VI and Elizabeth II feature a redesigned reverse displaying Sir Francis Drake 's ship

988-430: The libraries of provincial yeomen and gentry . John Whiting, a Quaker yeoman imprisoned at Ilchester, Somerset , in the 1680s had books sent by carrier from London, and left for him at an inn. Samuel Pepys had a collection of ballads bound into volumes, under the following classifications, into which could fit the subject matter of most chapbooks: Stories in many chapbooks have much earlier origins. Bevis of Hampton

1026-463: The reign of George V feature his likeness and bear the inscription GEORGIVS V DEI GRA BRITT OMN REX FID DEF IND IMP . A halfpenny of King Edward VIII (1936) does exist, dated 1937, but technically it is a pattern coin i.e. one produced for official approval; it would probably have been due to receive this approval at about the time that the King abdicated. The obverse shows a left-facing portrait of

1064-462: The reverse, and from 1937 onwards the image of the Golden Hind appeared. Like all British coinage, it bore the portrait of the monarch on the obverse. "Halfpenny" was colloquially written ha'penny , and " ⁠1 + 1 / 2 ⁠ d " was spoken as "a penny ha’penny" / ə ˈ p ɛ n i ˈ h eɪ p n i / or three ha'pence / θ r iː ˈ h eɪ p ən s / . "Halfpenny"

1102-515: The second half of the 18th century was over 200,000 per year. Printers provided chapbooks on credit to chapmen, who sold them both from door to door and at markets and fairs, then paying for the stock they sold. This facilitated wide distribution and large sales with minimum outlay, and also provided the printers with feedback about what titles were most popular. Popular works were reprinted, pirated, edited, and produced in different editions. Publishers also issued catalogues, and chapbooks are found in

1140-470: The so-called 'bun head', or 'draped bust' of Queen Victoria on the obverse. The inscription around the bust read VICTORIA D G BRITT REG F D . This was replaced in 1895 by the 'old head', or 'veiled bust'. The inscription on these coins read VICTORIA DEI GRA BRITT REGINA FID DEF IND IMP . Coins issued during the reign of Edward VII feature his likeness and bear the inscription EDWARDVS VII DEI GRA BRITT OMN REX FID DEF IND IMP . Similarly, those issued during

1178-412: The source for the introduction of Saint George into English folk plays . Robert Greene 's 1588 novel Dorastus and Fawnia , the basis of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale , was still being published in cheap editions in the 1680s. Some stories were still being published in the 19th century, (e.g., Jack of Newbury , Friar Bacon , Dr Faustus and The Seven Champions of Christendom ). Chapbook

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1216-658: The surviving chapbooks come from the collections of Samuel Pepys between 1661 and 1688 which are now held at Magdalene College, Cambridge . The antiquary Anthony Wood also collected 65 chapbooks, including 20 from before 1660, which are now in the Bodleian Library . There are also significant Scottish collections, such as those held by the University of Glasgow and the National Library of Scotland . Modern collectors such as Peter Opie , have chiefly

1254-559: The upper classes occasionally owned chapbooks, and sometimes bound them in leather. Printers typically tailored their texts for the popular market. Chapbooks were usually between four and twenty-four pages long, and produced on rough paper with crude, frequently recycled, woodcut illustrations. They sold in the millions. After 1696, English chapbook peddlers had to be licensed, and 2,500 of them were then authorized, 500 in London alone. In France, there were 3,500 licensed colporteurs by 1848, and they sold 40 million books annually. The centre of

1292-410: The years, various different obverses were used. Edward VII, George V, George VI and Elizabeth II each had a single obverse for halfpennies produced during their respective reigns. Over the long reign of Queen Victoria two different obverses were used, but the short reign of Edward VIII meant no halfpennies bearing his likeness were ever issued. During Victoria's reign, the halfpenny was first issued with

1330-553: Was also used in North America. Chapbooks gradually disappeared from the mid-19th century in the face of competition from cheap newspapers and, especially in Scotland, from tract societies that regarded them as ungodly. Chapbooks were generally aimed at buyers who did not maintain libraries, and due to their flimsy construction they rarely survive as individual items. In an era when paper was expensive, chapbooks were sometimes used for wrapping, baking, or as toilet paper . Many of

1368-572: Was an Anglo-Norman romance of the 13th century, which probably drew on earlier themes. The structure of The Seven Sages of Rome was of Eastern origin, and was used by Geoffrey Chaucer . Many jests about ignorant and greedy clergy in chapbooks were taken from The Friar and the Boy printed about 1500 by Wynkyn de Worde , and The Sackfull of News (1557). Historical stories set in a mythical and fantastical past were popular, while many significant historical figures and events appear rarely or not at all: in

1406-551: Was not limited to the working classes. Broadside ballads were sold for a halfpenny , or a few pence . Prices of chapbooks were from 2d. to 6d., when agricultural labourers' wages were 12d. per day. The literacy rate in England in the 1640s was around 30 percent for males and rose to 60 percent in the mid-18th century. Many working people were readers, if not writers, and pre-industrial working patterns provided periods during which they could read. Chapbooks were used for reading to family groups or groups in alehouses. They contributed to

1444-566: Was usually reserved as a wrapping for sugar. Chapbooks are called Volksbuch 'people's book' in German, and as pliegos sueltos 'loose sheets' in Spanish, with the latter name referring to their method of assembly. Lubok books are the Russian equivalent. Broadside ballads were popular songs, sold for a penny or halfpenny in the streets of towns and villages around Britain between

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