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This study seeks to assess the extent to which die digital book market is structuring independently from the print edition market by comparing the pricing of 559 digital and print French and American bestsellers during 2011. Two pricing methods are distinguished: "homothetic pricing," where the digital pricing is a reflection of the print pricing, and "heterothetic pricing," where the digital price is set according to new rules. The French and American markets do not have the same propensity to overcome the pricing practices in the print book market: While the French market's e-book structure is mirroring that of the print book industry, die American market tends to be more independent. This can be explained by die significant structural, legal, and institutional differences between the publishing industries of both countries. In addition, some factors favor die "heterothetic" pricing method: the number of pages and the type of book influence the degree of differentiation between print and digital prices of the same title [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Used at first with their original (definite) article, the phrases exception française and fin de l'exception française gained instant notoriety after the publication of Furet, Julliard and Rosanvallon's 1988 book La République du centre: La fin de l'exception française. Before too long, the shorter phrase, which (contrary to what is sometimes asserted) was already in existence, also started occurring without the article, with other determiners, and in the plural. This paper details some of the splendeurs et misères (including progressive trivialization) of both the longer and the shorter phrase, thought of as exponents of a single formula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although protected by the law on fixed prices for books, independent bookshops in France have struggled to maintain their market share against bookselling giants such as Amazon and the chains. In trying to do so, they have developed a rhetoric based on the singularity of the experience in physical shops, stressing a sense of intimacy akin to that associated with the domestic sphere. Their being independent – no matter how slippery the notion – has also been a key argument. Using Pierre Bourdieu's theory of symbolic goods, this paper aims to show that this strategy has been effective in singling out something that 'only' independent retail can provide, something that proves particularly attractive to certain categories of customers. The article draws on semi-structured interviews carried out with owners of small and medium-sized independent bookshops, together with observation during events and debates, to provide some insight into a key element of physical bookshops' resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the book market and economic demand for literature in France during the ancien régime era before the French Revolution. The author also considers a digital archive (www://robertdarnton.org) which includes the letters of booksellers and statistics on the French publishing industry. Emphasis is given to topics such as the archives of the the Société typographique de Neuchâtel (STN), bestselling books, and competition from foreign booksellers.

The article discusses the ways in which authors' self-publishing in Paris, France during the Enlightenment helped to spur the modernization and professionalization of authorship. The author begins by explaining authors' attempts to gain legal separation from booksellers to assert more control over their works. She goes on to examine authors' increased involvement in the literary market through control of publishing and their efforts to actually promote and sell their own work.

An essay is presented on the history of print trade in France in the eighteenth-century. It explores the legal, economic, and political environment that printers and booksellers operate during the period. It looks at the structural transformation governing print trades in the country and how printers and booksellers adjusted to this transformation.

Presents a handlist of catalogues of French booksales. Background on the preparation of the handlist; Aspects of the list; References from the literature; Encounters with copies of catalogues; Categories of auctions; Notes on references.