Chapmen and their books

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Tony Hoskins

Chapmen and their books

Legg inn av Tony Hoskins » 01 sep 2005 19:31:02

"It meant merchant or trader of a rather down-market type. The "chap"
part has the same etymology as the word "cheap." I understand the word
is still used in British English to designate what Americans call a
peddler."

Chiefly (though not exclusively) of books.

Chapbooks: Definition and Origins
A chapbook is "a small book or pamphlet containing poems, ballads,
stories, or religious tracts" (dictionary) The term is still used today
to refer to short, inexpensive booklets. The context I am using it in is
that of the Early Modern period in England. Chapbooks were small,
cheaply produced books, most often octavo or duodecimo printings of
twenty-four pages, sold without a cover. Pamphlets were similar to
chapbooks, but they can be divided by their content. Pamphlets generally
concerned matters of the day, such as politics, religion, or current
events. Chapbooks were timeless books of jest and tales that often
sprang out of folklore. Chapbooks were so called because they were sold
by peddlers known as chapmen. Chap comes from the Old English for trade,
so a chapman was literally a dealer who sold books. Chapmen would carry
boxes containing the conveniently sized editions, either in town on
street corners, or traveling through the countryside. They typically
sold their wares for twopence or threepence, and stocked a large variety
of titles. Among the types of content contained in chapbooks were
romantic tales of chivalry, religious and moral instruction, cookbooks,
guides to fortune telling and magic, and bawdy stories full of innuendo.


Chapmen traveled through England as early as the 1570s (Watt) selling
books to whoever they could. Chapbooks followed broadsides as early
print products for people of lesser means and learning than the wealthy.
Broadsides represented print for the semi-literate: two of the main
forms were ballads and pictures, neither of which depended heavily on
reading. Ballads would be bought and sung by musicians who could read.
People who heard the songs might repeat them in alehouses or inns,
relying on memory. In this way the songs could change into new songs
which would later be transcribed, or devolve into a meaningless jumble
of words. Broadsides containing large woodcuts were also popular. They
typically featured some sort of moral lesson or biblical saying. Even
those who could not read at all could make use of these broadsides by
hanging them on the wall. The one line or so of text could be remembered
or inferred from the picture.

http://web.mit.edu/21h.418/www/nhausman/chap1.html

Douglas Richardson royala

Re: Chapmen and their books

Legg inn av Douglas Richardson royala » 01 sep 2005 19:37:37

Interesting post, Tony. Thanks for sharing this information with us.

Do you know where the expression "Old Chap" comes from?

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah

Website: http://www.royalancestry.net

Tony Hoskins

Re: Chapmen and their books

Legg inn av Tony Hoskins » 01 sep 2005 21:20:04

"where the expression "Old Chap" comes from?

Good question. Interestingly enough, it appears that "chap" as a term
for a man or boy does in fact derive from an abbreviation for
"chapman".

chap 2 (chp)
n. Informal
A man or boy; a fellow.

[Short for chapman.]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/chap

Tony


Anthony Hoskins
History, Genealogy and Archives Librarian
History and Genealogy Library
Sonoma County Library
3rd and E Streets
Santa Rosa, California 95404

707/545-0831, ext. 562

Peter Stewart

Re: Chapmen and their books

Legg inn av Peter Stewart » 02 sep 2005 06:28:38

Richardson wrote:

Do you know where the expression "Old Chap" comes from?

"Chap" comes from the Old English "ceap", a bargain or inexpensive
purchase, the same word as in "chapman". The term is thought to have
been picked up in Roman times from the Latin "caupo" or "copo", defined
in Lewis & Short as a petty tradesman, huckster or innkeeper.

So familiarly calling each other "chaps" expresses a typically British
kind of mutual self-deprecation.

Uriah should have known that - have you lost your psychic channel to
him?

Peter Stewart

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