Independent Presses: The Politics of Print in England During the Late 1640s.

Print culture during the Civil War era has been extensively studied in recent years. Scholars are currently debating the conditions that the producers of print - authors, booksellers, and printers - operated under, their relationship to ideologies and political factions, and the status of the public sphere during the period. This paper examines the output of the most prolific booksellers and printers in London from 1648-1649 in an effort to understand these issues. It argues that while the characteristics of a rudimentary public sphere existed in the publications of certain printers and booksellers with Independent political leanings, the manipulation, opportunism, and political fanaticism of others ensured that any rational political debate would be the minority of the public discourse in print. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]