Circulating Libraries and Their Influence on the Publishing Industry

In chapter 40, while living with her parents in Portsmouth, Fanny uses some of the money she was given by her uncle to purchase a subscription to a “circulating library” for her and Susan. My edition of Mansfield Park includes a note on circulating libraries, writing that free libraries were rare and books prohibitively expensive to purchase. Therefore these circulating libraries “exerted enormous influence over the kinds of books that could be published.”

The proprietors of these libraries being in control of what literature was made available to the public would have certainly affected the form and content of Austen’s writing. It may be fruitful to examine the author’s background and beliefs as well as those of the library administrators.

The mention of the reading of Quarterly Reviews as a typical evening activity could further elucidate the leanings of the novel’s characters from researching the topics and stances taken on political issues by the publication during the period.