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Based on the results of the application of a survey to 214 users of bookstores in Bogotá and Medellín, and 21 interviews with booksellers in these same two cities, this article presents an analysis of the conditions in which bookseller or bookstore owners performs their role and the functions they perform in relation to the particularities of each bookstore. The aim is contributed to the knowledge of these important spaces within the fabric of our cities, even more so in the framework of the COVID-19 pandemic. The conclusions of the analysis make it possible to establish the main characteristics that are currently expected of a bookseller and the bookstore space, as well as to propose a series of recommendations to strengthen the country's bookstore network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Book sale catalogues are the main source in the history of the book trade. Its advertising nature allows us to approach the rhythms of the book market, and guides on the strategies used by booksellers to reach their customers. The ephemeral nature of these materials has prevented, however, to know their impact on commercial life or even determine the frequency of their use by booksellers. Based on a database that registers more than 500 catalogues published for the Argentine cultural space between 1850 and 1920, this article analyzes the rise of these materials, reveals their origins and producers, and highlights some of their transformations in a long time. The study thus emphasizes the need to recognize bookshop's sales catalogues as a leading material in the consolidation of a printed culture in Argentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus epidemic (Covid-19) unleashed worldwide has had repercussions in all social sectors, and the world of culture in general and of publishing in particular have not been an exception. The need to adopt confinement measures has determined the closure of all public spaces related to reading, such as libraries, bookstores and cultural centers, with serious consequences for the sector that has seen its activity to stop. Faced with this situation, there have been numerous actors involved, such as authors, publishers, bookstores, but also individuals, who have developed a set of initiatives to try to alleviate these effects, both for the editorial segment and for the population. On the one hand, the online acquisition systems, advance purchases, flexible deliveries, etc., have been strengthened. And on the other, from the publishing sector, authors, publishers and booksellers have proposed the release of titles for free online reading, or the development of personalized recommendation systems for readers, among many other initiatives. The consequence of all this has been an important growth in the consumption of digital content, verifiable above all in the increase in loans in systems such E-biblio in Spain, and similar platforms in other countries. These movements, although they are of a conjunctural nature, have revealed the possibility of other forms of consumption and distribution of content, little frequented by a large part of the population that, out of necessity, has tried other reading formulas that always look good as an alternative to traditional ones, either as a complement or as another mode of appropriation and consumption that may be the prevailing one in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of edition in Uruguay goes back to 1871, with the opening of the Librería Nacional (bookshop and print house), founded by the Galician immigrant Antonio Barreiro y Ramos, a native of Laracha, A Coruña. It will be only in the second half of the 20th century that we will find the first woman publisher in Montevideo: Nancy Bacelo (1931-2007). Reviewing her work as editor and cultural manager does not only help to reconstruct the cultural field of Montevideo in the sixties, but also to re-read the links and intellectual networks at work both at the regional and the continental levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clémentine Denné Schmitz (1801-1876) is one of the many unknown figures of 19th-century edition. However, her effervescent activity in the world of books as a bookseller, editor and businesswoman demands her name to be restored to the pantheon of editors and cultural mediators of the contemporary age. This proposal will review her editorial practices and transnational strategies in a panoramic way, that is, the network of relationships she established between authors, publishers, booksellers and commission agents from France and Latin America to consolidate one of the most remarkable Spanish bookstores in Paris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the emergence and consolidation of the bookstores in Colombia. Focusing on the first half of the 19th Century, the elements that originated the fairly specialized profession of the booksellers as well as the commercial circulation of books during this period are explored here. This paper argues that the relationship between bookstores and international trade networks was a key element for their organization, always in alignment with changes in the national book market and the local radio of readers. Thus, the paper provides a characterization of the nineteenth-century booksellers, highlighting the commercial role of the catalogues, their shift toward the editorial environment and its connections to the political power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes a topic which has attract the attention of historians, journalists, and librarians, but it has almost never been systematically researched: Secondhand book trade. The period of time between 1886 and 1930 is explored to criticize the romantic ways to approach this subject. Also, through the analysis of this 'street business', concepts like modernization, hygienic measures, and urban planning can be reviewed. For the purpose of writing this article, archives were consulted that are not specifically related to this topic, especially the Ramo Mercados of Archivo Histórico de la Ciudad de México. Finally, the article explores how secondhand books trade was linked to political, cultural and economic processes of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entire circuit of the book, both traditional and eBook, has moved into the digital realm. Metadata, recommendation algorithms, and programs to limit and control the reading take on a new importance. Powerful digital intermediaries now control most of the author-reader process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article represents a first approach to the way in which people from New Spain accommodated their books within the shelves, both individual and institutional libraries, during the second half of the eighteenth century. Based on a selection of censorship inventories raised by the Holy Office, I study some specific cases where the accommodation of books is revealed. At first, I refer to some private libraries and then a group of bookstores. After the analysis, it is clear that the size of the books was the dominant guideline in the organization, followed by a slight thematic classification and, in some cases, the physical condition of the books. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El artículo presenta un reportaje sobre los libros políticos que han llenado las librerías de Venezuela. Se refiere a unos libros como "Me enamoré de una chavista," "Hugo Chávez sin uniforme" y "Las dos izquierdas." También se incluye unos comentarios de los dueños sobre su descontento de la situación.

Venezuela is not known for its literary prowess, nor does it boast the prestige of being a nation of writers -- as do Colombia, Mexico, Chile, or Argentina. Neither are Venezuelans famous for being cultured. Nonetheless, in some respects the editorial world seems to be changing. Certain global factors may help explain this, but there seems to be a local explosion of curiosity -- a burning need to understand and know what's going on in the country. Consumer demand has widened, there is greater concern for quality, and a decidedly greater number of readers among youth and women. Sales are high for self-help books, cookbooks, tourism guides and, as elsewhere in the world, the novels of Isabel Allende, Dan Brown, Paulo Coelho, plus the Harry Potter saga. After Argentina, Venezuela is the Latin American country with the largest number of bookshops in relation to population. This change in course may owe to Chávez' rise to power, and prevailing angst over understanding the origin of ensuing developments, fuelling sales of political, sociological, and historical essays. Yet large books are also doing well, including travel, interior design, weaponry, antique automobiles, photography and art. Sales are made even in the country's heartland, where transport charges render the cost of books higher. Reader growth has even benefited from piracy, despite the damage done to the editorial industry. Nonetheless, outside the capital city little attention is being given to bookselling, where bestsellers such as Paulo Coelho are sometimes hard to come by. Imported books are still too costly for Venezuelan means, even when prices are compared to those in euros or dollars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Books that circulate in a specific time and space are one of the factors that influence the formation of a social entity. This article endeavors to analyze a specific source of republican culture: the books that were advertised in 19th century Caracas in the newspaper El Venezolano. By approaching the books stores, the lists of book shipments from abroad, and several initiatives of booksellers to foster literacy culture, we are offered an insight to an element of thought that influenced ideas and mentalities that took shape and were disseminated at that time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Se presenta una introducción en la que el autor comenta sobre los artículos en este número, incluyendo uno sobre el indigenismo, uno sobre libreros y uno sobre el mercado de medicamentos genéricos.

Books, reading and the publishing industry are experiencing changes motivated by technological advancement. The content has been separated from the media and, therefore, the publishing industry has had to alter its logistic structure, based on physical distribution until recently. Print on demand and online bookstores are now meeting new needs: they have increased the possibilities of visibility and circulation of editorial production, and they have suppressed geographic and physical barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]