Pamphlet war

Pamphlet wars refer to any protracted argument or discussion through printed medium. The purpose was to defend or attack a certain perspective or idea. Pamphlet wars have occurred multiple times throughout history, as both social and political platforms. Pamphlet wars became viable platforms for this protracted discussion with the advent and spread of the printing press. Cheap printing presses, and increased literacy made the late 17th century a key stepping stone for the development of pamphlet wars, a period of prolific use of this type of debate. Over 2200 pamphlets were published between 1600-1715 alone.

The growth of British literature started in the 1520s. It was generally used in this decade and several following for debates over different religious practices. It was a pattern in Europe that the press was used in order to war over religion, and England was no exception. Henry VIII used literature to try to rewrite history, attempting to justify his break from Rome and the Catholic Church. During the subsequent reigns of Edward and Mary, literature was used not only for religious purposes, but also as a sort of propaganda war. The written word had enormous potential to sway the common opinion. In the 1560s, print was first used for conveying news. In 1562, the first pamphlets were reported, which discussed the English forces sent to aid the French Huguenots. In 1569, pamphlets were again used to report the revolt of the Northern Earls and the Rebellion of 1569. Beginning in the 1580s pamphlets began to replace broadsheet ballads as the means to convey news to the general public. The pamphlet gained more and more popularity over the next century until 1688, by which time it was the main way to gain public support for an idea. After the Glorious Revolution, the pamphlet lost popularity due to the emergence of newspapers and periodicals.

Coming from a Latin word, "pamphlet" literally means "small book." In the early days of printing, the format of the book or pamphlet depended on the size of the paper used and the number of times it was folded. If a page was only folded once, it was called a folio. If it was folded twice, it was known as a quarto. An octave was a paper folded three times. A pamphlet was usually 1-12 sheets of paper folded in quarto, or 8-96 pages. It was sold for one or two pennies apiece. The printing of a pamphlet involved many people: the author, the printer, suppliers, print-makers, compositor, correctors, pressmen, binders, and distributors. Once the pamphleteer had written the pamphlet, it was sent to the printing house to be corrected, set into type, and printed. The papers were then given to the printer's warehouse-keeper, who bundled the copies and sent them to the bookseller, who was probably the one financing the printing. He was responsible to bind the pamphlets, usually by sewing them, and then sold them wholesale to individual bookselling vendors. The booksellers then sold them from a stall in the marketplace.

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