April 18, 2015
For the Love of Chapbooks
Back in 2007, poet Noah Eli Gordon wrote that, “From the 16th to the 19th century, chapbooks flourished as a locus of popular culture, religion, folklore, myth, history, poetry, and story; for many, they were the sole link connecting them to the events of the day, and, implicitly, to a sense of personal identity.” in his article “Considering Chapbooks: A Brief History of the Little Book” in Jacket 34. Historically, chapbooks were sort of like our present-day Facebook pages, Tumblrs, and tweets.