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This paper compares publishing in two European countries with fixed respective free book prices: Germany and Sweden, when it comes to the phenomenon vertical integration. Concentration of media ownership is a central issue in today’s global publishing industry and large international media groups are consolidating at a fast pace, taking over more and more links in the value chain of books. One of the foremost examples is Amazon—established in Germany and fast expanding in Europe, but not yet present in Sweden. This paper presents a broad overview of the two markets and interviews with several actors in the German and Swedish book trades are analyzed and compared. Amazon’s impact on the respective book markets as well as strategies for independent publishers are discussed. The question whether concentration of media ownership in the book trade affects publishing and distribution of “quality literature” is also raised.

Elsa Fougt (1744–1826), a woman entrepreneur, was one of the leading figures in the late eighteenth-century Swedish book trade. Her main enterprise was the printing house Kongl. Tryckeriet (the Royal Printing House), which was responsible for printing and publishing the official documents of the Swedish realm. Besides her office as Royal Printer, she also ran a publishing house, two bookshops and a type foundry, as well as being the editor of the Swedish newspaper Stockholms Weckoblad.

The dissertation analyzes Fougt's different enterprises and her position in the book trade between 1780 and 1810, from the perspectives of sociology of literature and gender history. It consists of five independent articles, preceded by an introductory chapter which summarizes the articles and discusses their main findings. The first two articles explore the office of the Royal Printer during the whole eighteenth century, while the third article concerns Elsa Fougt’s position as Royal Printer. The fourth article is a study of Fougt's publishing house, and the fifth and final article focuses on her international bookshop, where, among other things, she sold clandestine books imported from the STN in Switzerland.

Fougt's successful career was made possible by a number of favourable circumstances, the most important being her family background and network. Her father Peter Momma held the office of Royal Printer, and Elsa Fougt and her husband Henric inherited his position when he died. When Henric passed away in 1782, Elsa – as a widow – was legally allowed to take up the office of Royal Printer independently.

The fact that Elsa Fougt was a woman does not seem to have particularly affected her role as Royal Printer. In comparison with her predecessors, her position as Royal Printer appears to have been rather strong. She was a shrewd businesswoman who successfully negotiated with the authorities for higher financial compensation. Her office was obviously of greater importance than her gender.

Being both a publisher, a printer, and a bookseller, Fougt handled most of the functions of the book trade, although she distinguished between these different functions. Furthermore, rather than just being an intermediary of books, she also took part in the creation of them, for example by initiating texts and editing manuscripts.

In the book trade of her time, Fougt can be seen as both a traditionalist – holding the inherited office of Royal Printer – and an innovator, representing a more modern literary system with increased specialization.

This essay studies the Royal Printer Elsa Fougt’s (1744–1826) publishing house, and her role as a publisher. Elsa Fougt’s main enterprise was her large printing house Kongl. Tryckeriet – the Royal Printing House – which was responsible for printing and publishing the official documents of the Swedish realm. In addition, she published a number of other works, both scientific literature and fiction, particularly plays. The essay consists of two major parts. The first part deals with the books produced by Fougt’s publishing house between 1782 and 1811. The second part mainly investigates her relations with authors, as well as the different functions she performed in the book trade as a publisher. Finally, Fougt’s marketing methods and sales strategies are examined.

Anna-Maria Rimm, Elsa Fougt som Kungl. boktryckare. (Elsa Fougt as Royal Printer.)

Elsa Fougt (1744–1826) was one of the most powerful figures in the Swedish book trade of her time. For nearly thirty years, she held the position of Royal Printer in the Swedish realm and accordingly ran the large and prestigious printing house Kongl. Tryckeriet. She also ran several enterprises that were attached to the printing house, including a publishing firm, a type foundry, and a bookshop that traded in foreign books.

While previous research about the late eighteenth-century book trade in Sweden has seen Elsa Fougt primarily as a passive figure, the widow of the Royal Printer Henric Fougt, this study argues that she was an active entrepreneur in her own right. Elsa Fougt worked independently for thirty years after her husband had died, and, moreover, she already worked as a married woman, although unofficially. Kongl. Tryckeriet was a typical family business in which each family member’s contribution was necessary for its survival. Elsa Fougt, being the daughter of the previous Royal Printer Peter Momma, had literally grown up in the business, and most probably received both the essential training and the network contacts that a future career in the trade required, even though, being a woman, she was not permitted apprenticeship as a printer. It is important to stress that the wives of entrepreneurs often worked in the family business. After her husband’s death, she was able to represent her companies officially, since widows were allowed by law to run businesses.

The fact that Elsa Fougt was a woman living and working in a patriarchal society does not seem to have particularly affected her role as Royal Printer. In comparison with her predecessors, her position as Royal Printer appears to have been remarkably strong. For instance, her recurrent demands to the authorities for higher financial compensation for printing and publishing official documents were accepted more often than those of her predecessors.

Elsa Fougt was a skillful business strategist who tried to consolidate her companies in many ways. Her most noteworthy tactic was to make use of her official position as Royal Printer and the prestigious trademark of Kongl. Tryckeriet for the purpose of benefiting her other, private, enterprises. Thus, it is evident that her different companies were tightly interwoven,even though the printing house Kongl. Tryckeriet held the most prominent place in her business empire.

Anna-Maria Rimm, Aktningsvärda vänners råd. Sociala och ekonomiska förutsättningar för Ulrica Carolina Widströms författarskap. (The Counsel of Respectable Friends. Social and Economic Conditions of the Literary Work of Ulrica Carolina Widström.)

This paper studies the Swedish author Ulrica Carolina Widström’s (1764–1841) authorship from a sociological perspective, focusing on her social network and her shifting financial circumstances in particular. Network theory and Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of social and cultural capital are used as analytical tools in the study.

Widström benefited from social contacts from an early age. She received an education, for instance — in spite of the fact that she did not come from a wealthy family — through her noble godmother Charlotta Fredrika Sparre (1719–1795). However, the social contact who seems to have been the most useful for Widström’s career as an author was Carl Christoffer Gjörwell (1731–1811). Not only did he publish her poems in his newspapers, he also helped to promote her works to his friends, as well as supplying Widström with literary assignments and contacts. Furthermore, Widström also mixed with some of the greatest Swedish authors of her time: Thorild, Kellgren, Lidner, Leopold, Franzén, and von Knorring. Widström’s literary acquaintances could be of use to her literary career in different ways. On the one hand, it is apparent that they could help her by reading and commenting her works, as well as distributing it and making her reputation as an author more widely known. On the other, we see that some parts of Widström’s poetry were written solely with a social purpose, so-called "social obligation".

The study also shows that it is likely that Widström used her writing as a way of earning money. Her translations of popular novels and the adaptation of the novel Victor for the stage serve as examples of this. Moreover, Widström’s poor financial situation was used as the main sales argument for her final collection of poems, Ulrika C. Widströms Samlade Witterhetsförsök. But it is nevertheless clear that an unsound economy restricted Widström’s career as an author. She was, for instance, forced to work as a governess during long periods of her life due to poor finances. The unfortunate case of the publication of Höstaftnarne at Widström’s own expense shows that the literary business could be an economically risky one for authors without sound economic resources.