This book is the first edited volume focusing on handwritten newspapers
as an alternative medium from a wide interdisciplinary and international
perspective. The primary focus is on handwritten newspapers as a social
practice. The case studies contextualize the source materials in
relation to political, cultural, literary, and economic history. The
analysis reveals both continuity and change across the different forms
and functions of the textual materials. The time span ranges from the
16th to the 20th century. During these centuries, handwritten newspapers
changed from an expensive public commodity and a social gift for the
elites to an internal or clandestine medium of communication for
non-elite groups. The book targets researchers and students in media and
literary history, and cultural and literacy studies.