Psychiatric Penguins: Writing on psychiatry for Penguin Books, c.1950–c.1980

The British mass-market publisher Penguin produced a number of texts on psychiatric topics in the period c.1950–c.1980. Investigation of editorial files relating to a sample of these volumes reveals that they were shaped as much by the commercial imperatives and changing aspirations of the publisher...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:History of the human sciences 2015-10, Vol.28 (4), p.76-101
Main Author: Miller, Gavin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Psychiatry
Publishing
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The British mass-market publisher Penguin produced a number of texts on psychiatric topics in the period c.1950–c.1980. Investigation of editorial files relating to a sample of these volumes reveals that they were shaped as much by the commercial imperatives and changing aspirations of the publisher as by developments and debates in psychiatry itself. A number of economic imperatives influenced the publishing process, including the perennial difficulty in finding psychiatrists willing and able to enter the popular book market; the economic pressures exerted on peer-review protocols; and the identification of a niche market in popular psychiatry, latterly of a politically radical flavour. As well as offering a materialist standpoint for the study of popular psychiatric texts, this investigation allows an opportunity to adapt, apply and assess theoretical approaches to mass-market publishing by psychiatrists.
ISSN:0952-6951
1461-720X
DOI:10.1177/0952695115586121