The history of bookselling begins with the Aldine Press known most notably for its Dolphin and Anchor logo (Rostenberg 12). The founder, Aldus Manutius, was a teacher who conceived the idea of issuing classics in a series of pocket-sized books, and selling them for twenty-five cents (12). In 1500 Manutius and his fellow scholars and editors published classic Greek texts such as: the eclogues of Theocritus, Bessarion and Gemistos, and the Divine Comedy of Dante (13). Between the periods of 1617-1719, The Pilgrim Press flourished, lead by William Brewster in Leyden, Holland. It was directed and sustained by refugees from England who settled in Holland and would then depart for New England (26). The Pilgrim Press conducted in secret because of their distribution of printed prohibited books that threatened the authority of the English Church and government (26). Nathaniel Butter and Nicholas Bourne introduced journalism in England, giving information on public news events both domestic and foreign during 1622 (40). The role of the publisher flourished during mid nineteenth-century America because of new technology: rapid cylinder presses for fast machines for production of paper, perfected stereotyping, and fast printing processes (125). The publisher decided which authors were permitted to reach the public and “were in the position to dictate the form in which they should do so (Langdon-Davies, 16),” making them more connected within the bookselling trade. In 1957, The Netbook Agreement was the most important governing factor in British bookselling and publishing and had strict rules and penalties for any bookseller who did not abide by the terms (Joy, 20). It heavily supported the notion that a book should be sold by the full-published price and no less; this resulted in fewer stocked bookshops, more expensive books and fewer published titles (20). In March 1997, The Netbook Agreement was ruled illegal by the Restrictive Practices Court for going against public interest (McCarthy). Finally, in the present day of bookselling, independent bookshops are competing with conglomerates and conglomerates are competing against E-Readers (the Nook, Kobo, Amazon Kindle) and Amazon.com that claims to be “the world’s biggest bookstore.”
The history of Amazon begins with its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos who created the website in 1995 as an online bookstore (Brandt). Bezos named it after the Amazon River because, “it flowed through the South America for mile after mile, seemingly forever, (Sherman),” and he hoped at the time that his online business would flow on forever as well. The headquarters are located in Seattle, Washington and it is the world’s largest online retailer with separate websites for: United States, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and China (Jopson). It started as an online bookstore and eventually branched out to sell DVDs, CDs, MP3 downloads, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food and toys (Amazon.com). Amazon revolutionized the online retail market by, “setting up the equivalent of twenty on-line magazines and a budget close to a million dollars for reviews, articles, and interview, Amazon was creating a true hybrid. It was neither a traditional store nor a traditional publication, but a fusion of the two (Marcus, 106).”As of February 2012, Amazon announced they are planning to open a retail store selling only high-end electronics such as the Kindle E-Book and its various versions (Barr). The Amazon Kindle has not only revolutionized the reading medium, but how people read and how authors write (Collins).
In July 2011, Amazon ensued a political match with California by filing for a referendum on the state’s decision to tax online shopping to reduce a nine billion dollar deficit (Jopson). California was the eighth state to introduce a local tax where as the rest of the states do not have a federal tax law on e-commerce, therefore most US online shoppers do not pay sales tax (Jopson). In September 2011 the referendum was then dropped after California agreed to post pone the sales tax for a year. As of December 2011, and Amazon executive stated the company “strongly supports” federal legislation permitting states to collect state sales tax from Internet retailers, “so long as few companies are permitted to duck the requirements (Peterson).”
WORKS CITED
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Brandt, Richard L. One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com. New York: Penguin, 2011. Print.
Collins, Jim. Bring on the Books for Everybody: How Literary Culture Became Popular Culture. London: Duke University Press, 2010. Print.
Jopson, Barney. “Amazon Urges California Referendum on Online Tax.” Financial Times. 12 July 2011. The Financial Times Limited. Web. 6 Mar 2012. <http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/61828252-ac1d-11e0-b85c 00144feabdc0.html#axzz1oLgJMRO5>.
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McCarthy, Daniel. “Politics and the NBA.” The American Conservative. 9 February 2010. Web. 12 March 2012. <http://www.theamericanconservative.com/mccarthy/2010/02/09/politics-and-the-nba/>.
Marcus, James. Amazonia: Five Years at the Epicenter of the Dot.com Juggernaut. New York: New Press, 2003. Print.
Peterson, Kristina. “Amazon Tells Lawmakers It Supports Sales Tax.” The Wall Street Journal. 1 December 2011. Web. 6 March 2012. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204012004577070191865973750.html>.
Rostenberg, Leona, and Madeleine B. Stern. From Revolution to Revolution: Perspectives on Publishing & Bookselling, 1501-2001. New Castle, Del: Oak Knoll Press, 2002. Print.
Sherman, Josepha. Jeff Bezos: King of Amazon. Millbrook Press, 2001. Print.