Religious Book and Bible Publishing

able influence on American life it has not attracted the historian of thought. As a genus, its definition is difficult. The popular moral essay, the pious tale, as well as the sermon and theological treatise, must claim inclusion. For this purpose the field will be limited to literature inspired by organized religious life and written to foster it. Religious publications originated in America to serve the purposes of the churches and are still in large measure "denominational. " Church presses from the Methodist Book Concern (1789) to the Seabury Press (1951) established the basic pattern. While in the past decade the religious book has assumed prominence in the lists of general publishers, the denominational houses continue as the foundation of religious publishing. The beginnings of the religious book are found in New England. The theocratic character of society produced a prolific religious litera-ture. New England sermons provided a commentary on problems which covered a much wider area than the purely doctrinal, reached a larger audience, and were generally printed at the request of the parish church rather than commercially pub1ished.l The organization of denominations following the Revolution pro-vided an impetus to publishing. Problems of education and the pro-motion of piety in a thinly settled country required wide distribution of literature for clergy and laity. Francis Asbury, pioneer bishop of American Methodism, emphasized constantly the role of the circuit rider in disseminating literature. The Methodist Book Concern actually used the preacher as retail bookseller. The literature of the American Tract Society, founded in 1825, greatly extended the work of the de-nominations. While general publishers always included a goodly number of re-ligious titles in their lists, the denominational presses grew steadil