ABSTRACT
Eighteenth-century Britain witnessed the transformation of literature into an experience that was increasingly visual. As many historians have shown, the early part of the century constituted a watershed-era for English print culture. 1 Scholars point to the Interregnum as a pivotal moment for publishing, when the pamphlet wars demonstrated the capacity of print to facilitate public discourse in a new way. But only with the lapse of the Licensing Act in 1695 and the institution of the Copyright Act in 1710 did book publishing suddenly become at once much less constrained and much more profitable. 2 An unprecedentedly rapid growth in literacy rates and a newly emergent public sphere further expanded the production and cultural influence of print materials.
