Using Books
This chapter attempts to recover the history of how and why we read communally. While increasing literacy and access to books undoubtedly made solitary reading possible for some, there were many reasons why individuals continued to read together. Some of these had to do with control over what was being read, and how: the perceived social benefits of being together, of the book as the basis for communal entertainment, performance, and discussion. But there were also straightforwardly practical reasons—light and sight. Up until the advent of the Argand oil lamp, and cheap supplies of North American mineral oil in the early nineteenth century, domestic lighting was primitive, and prohibitively expensive. Another technical obstacle to easy reading was limited ophthalmology. Reading aloud gave those with failing vision access to books and letters, and many read with others' eyes.