Sharp talk from Jonathan Rose on the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading & Publishing

Jonathan Rose is the William R. Kenan Professor of History at Drew University in Madison, NJ. His fields of study are British history, intellectual history and the history of the book (in which he happens to be a giant). His books include The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes and The Literary Churchill: Author, Reader, Actor both of which won important prizes. He has held visiting appointments at the University of Cambridge and Princeton University and he reviews books for the The Times Literary Supplement and the Daily Telegraph.

Most important viz our purposes: he was the founding president of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP), and for many years, co-editor of its journal 'Book History'.

I met with Jonathan at SHARP'S annual conference in Amherst, MA #Sharp19, to talk about his role in establishing the society. We also chat about SHARP'S history, purpose, future, and noticeable vibrancy, about the importance of history text books; Gone with the Wind; JFK, and Playboy magazine (okay, the last only in passing).