Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CaTPoP (Children and Transnational Popular Print, 1700-1900) Reporting period: 2019-09-30 to 2021-09-29 Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project CaTPoP is the first project to methodically examine European children’s popular print, 1700-1900. It provides the first overview of cheap, ephemeral printed materials that were either produced specifically for children and young people, or that were used by them. The aim is to establish the extent to which popular print reached young people, and to give a full account of the different forms that were produced with children as a target audience. These include educational books (such as ABCs and catechisms), traditional items of popular print (such as almanacs and lives of saints) and more imaginative, and attractively illustrated works, including penny prints, ballads, chapbooks and romances. Despite linguistic, cultural, and confessional differences, it is clear that some formats and titles appeared across Europe, and CaTPoP traces geographical (and temporal) continuities, and fractures. CaTPoP aims not only to advance the understanding of the relevance of juvenile audience for the market of popular print, opening new perspectives in the fields of the history of reading and publishing and of children’s literature, but also supports the curation of cultural heritage. Through secondments and partnerships in different countries and sectors (two museums and a Digital Humanities lab) it raised awareness and expertise among professionals. The project enhanced the understanding of printed materials often underrepresented in public outreach activities for the general audience, as they are perceived as less valuable than other more refined or more renowned items. It thus contributed to the recovery and interpretation of a significant part of print culture that has been for too long overlooked. Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far The research has been carried out in the form of a survey of selected European collections aiming to identify and examine items of cheap print, in some cases previously unknown. They have been catalogued, described and interpreted in light of the existing literature in broad fields such social history, literary history and history of education. The key points that emerged are the following:- Cheap and ephemeral materials represented a relevant opportunity for children from different backgrounds to read and play with cultural artefacts;- In many cases well established sub-genres of cheap print were chosen by publishers as formats to experiment with when they were actively searching for new ways to address a segment of the market previously overlooked, that of young people; - This happened at different paces in different European regions as a consequence of specificities such as religious confessions, schooling systems, advancement of commerce, that were likely to affect the development of a juvenile audience for books and prints; nonetheless some formats and contents appeared in different regions contributing to the development of shared cultural references among different populations; - These materials possibly represent the most democratic publishing genre in pre-modern book history: they could address peasants, working class audiences, but also children from more affluent families, in that they were easily understandable and enjoyable by semi-literate book users.The findings have been communicated to a diverse audience through:- scholarly outputs, both in traditional publications (articles, chapters and a research monograph in preparation) and digital formats (a dataset, a curated collection in a virtual research environment);- public outreach activities, that have allowed the general audience to learn about the existence of printed items almost unknown to non-experts (pictorial didactic tools, cheaply illustrated booklets and broadsides, paper toys, paper theatres…). This has happened through three different exhibitions (of which one was online) and related activities (publication of a catalogue, guided tours, public launching events). Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far) The project has recovered, analysed, and presented to the scholarly community a range of printed materials hardly ever taken into account by book historians and historians of children’s literature. In some cases it has discovered new evidence of the printing activities of known publishers that were previously considered neither as publishers of cheap print or of children’s literature. Moreover, it has reassessed the importance of pictorial materials (single sheets, paper toys, boardgames) in the development of the market for juvenile publications. Providing an overview of how the latter process has happened at different paces in different European regions, it supports a better understanding of the European history of publishing books and prints for children.Discussing the reading materials that were encountered by common people in their everyday lives, CaTPoP is also providing new evidence for the history of reading, a vital field of cultural and social history that in recent times has become one of the new frontiers of the discipline. Besides allowing these advancements in the knowledge of our past, CaTPoP is increasing the expertise of professionals of cultural heritage, putting them in a better position for interpreting the collections they are in charge of and presenting them to the general public, thus enhancing the understanding that non-experts have of past societies. Composition of photos of the inauguration of the exhibition 'Stampe per crescere', at Museo Per Via Photo of the exhibition 'Bibliothèques bleues' at Mucem (credit Julie Cohen) Photo of the exhibition 'Bibliothèques bleues' at Mucem (credit Julie Cohen) Photo of the exhibition 'Bibliothèques bleues' at Mucem (credit Julie Cohen)
