Describe the causes for extreme enthusiasm for reading in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe.
Causes were as given below : Rise in literacy rate : Literacy rates increased during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Churches all over Europe set up schools in villages, carrying literacy to peasants and artisans. In the eighteenth century, literacy rates were as high as 60 to 80 per cent, in some parts of Europe. As the literacy rate increased and schools spread, people wanted books to read and printers increased their production. New forms of popular literature : New forms of popular literature, such as almanacs or ritual calendars, folktales, chapbooks, Bilio the que Bleue, were printed. Booksellers employed pedlars for sale of this printed literature. Chapbooks were sold for a penny and the poor could buy such books easily. Books of various sizes, serving many different purposes and interests were published. Rise of periodical press : From the early eighteenth century, the periodical press printed information about current affairs with entertainment. Newspapers and journals wrote about wars and trade, and developments in other places. Ideas of scientists and philosophers : The ideas of scientists and philosophers were published with maps and scientific diagrams. It attracted people. For example, the discoveries of Isaac Newton influenced large number of people. The writings of thinkers such as Thomas Paine, Voltaire and Rousseau were widely printed and read.
