»In allen guten Buchhandlungen ist zu haben...«

Anyone who believes that advertising is an invention of modern times is mistaken. The most important and influential pioneer of modern advertising was the trade in printed books. Mass-produced, the printed book was different from all other products - it was the "first commodity of modern style". For its distribution, the book trade had been dependent since the 15th century on tools to promote sales and soon also to create demand. It therefore developed a number of specific advertising media early on, such as the title page, various publishing house, range and trade fair catalogues, novelty advertisements in newspapers and magazines and, as early as the 18th century, booksellers' trade journals. The historian and book scholar Marie-Kristin Hauke is the first to present an overall account of the early history of book advertising in Germany from the incunabula period to the beginning of the 19th century. Included is a bibliography of more than 1000 book trade catalogues from the 16th to the 18th century that have survived - often in only one copy.