The lack of printing regulations and the unenforceabiliy of British copyright law
in the American colonies made it possible for colonial printers occasionally to act as
publishers. Although they rarely undertook major publishing project because it was
difficult to sell books as cheaply as they could be imported from Europe, printers in
(5) Philadelphia did publish work that required only small amounts of capital, paper, and
type. Broadsides could be published with minimal financial risk. Consisting of only one
sheet of paper and requiring small amounts of type, broadsides involved lower investments
of capital than longer works. Furthermore, the broadside format lent itselt to subjects of
high, if temporary, interest, enabling them to meet with ready sale. If the broadside printer
(10) miscalculated, however, and produced a sheet that did not sell, it was not likely to be a
major loss, and the printer would know this immediately, There would be no agonizing
wait with large amounts of capital tied up, books gathering dust on the shelves, and creditors
impatient for payment
In addition to broadsides, books and pamphlets, consisting mainly of political tracts,
(15) catechisms, primers, and chapbooks were relatively inexpensive to print and to buy.
Chapbook were pamphlet-sized books, usually containing popular tales, ballads, poems,
short plays, and jokes, small, both in formal and number of pages, they were generally
bound simply, in boards (a form. of cardboard) or merely stitched in paper wrappers (a
sewn antecedent of modem-day paperbacks). Pamphlets and chapbooks did not require
(20) fine paper or a great deal of type to produce they could thus be printed in large, costeffective
editions and sold cheaply.
By far, the most appealing publishing investments were to be found in small books that
had proven to be steady sellers, providing a reasonably reliable source of income for the
publisher. They would not, by nature, be highly topical or political, as such publications
(25) would prove of fleeting interest. Almanacs, annual publications that contained information
on astronomy and weather patterns arranged according to the days, week, and months of
a given year, provided the perfect steady seller because their information pertained to the
locale in which they would be used
Which aspect of colonial printing does the passage mainly discuss?
A．Laws governing the printing industry.
B．Competition among printers
C．Types of publications produced
D．Advances in printing technology