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Colportage is the distribution of
Colportage is the distribution of publication
To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Conve ...
s, book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...
s, and religious
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
tracts by carriers called "colporteurs" or "colporters". The term does not necessarily refer to religious book peddling.
Etymology
From French , where the term is an alteration of , 'to peddle', as aportmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsBritish and Foreign Bible Society in southern France in the Pyrenees.
Colportage became common in Europe with the distribution of contending religious tracts and books during the religious controversies of the
History
Colportage became common in Europe with the distribution of contending religious tracts and books during the religious controversies of the Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
. In addition to controversial works, the itinerant book-peddling colporteurs also spread widely cheap editions of the popular works of the day to an increasingly literate rural population which had little access to the book shops of the cities.
The American Tract Society
The American Tract Society (ATS) is a nonprofit, nonsectarian but evangelical organization founded on May 11, 1825, in New York City for the purpose of publishing and disseminating tracts of Christian literature. ATS traces its lineage back thro ...
, an evangelical organization established in 1825 to distribute Christian literature, reported in its 24th annual report in 1849 "Colportage including 106 students from 23 different colleges or seminaries for their vacations .... e colporters have visited 341,071 families ... ndsold 377,258 books."
In ''Christ in the Camp: or, Religion in Lee's Army'' (1887), Dr. John William Jones refers to the chaplains carrying bibles and tracts during the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
as colporteurs. In addition to public preaching, distributing literature was a large part of the work of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most oft ...
. The American Bible Society
American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engage ...
and the American Tract Society were among the largest organizations involved in colportage in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
D. L. Moody founded the "Bible Institute Colportage Association" in 1894 to distribute tracts and books. Now known as Moody Publishers, they continue to publish religious materials with proceeds supporting the Moody Bible Institute
Moody Bible Institute (MBI) is a private evangelical Christian Bible college founded in the Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, US by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Historically, MBI has maintained positions that have ...
.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church calls their book distributors "literature evangelists", but until about 1980, the term ''colporteur'' was used to describe SDA literature evangelists.
Jehovah's Witnesses who were active in the full-time ministry were called colporteurs until 1931. Today, those participating in the full-time ministry are called "pioneers".
Bible Institute Colportage Association (BICA)
D. L. Moody founded the Bible Institute Colportage Association (BICA) in 1894 to provide a source for inexpensive Christian literature. Moody's son-in-law, A. P. Fitt, managed BICA operations. Publishing was contracted to Moody's brother-in-law, Fleming Revell, and his upstart publishing company. In 1895 the Colportage Library began the publication at regular intervals of books which met five specific criteria: 1. a popular readable style; 2. well-known authors or books of existing reputation; 3. strictlyevangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
and nondenominational
A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination.
Overview
The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...
works; 4. good workmanship, and; 5. low price.
Volume 1, Number 1, "All of Grace," by C. H. Spurgeon, issued March 15, 1895 and sold for ten cents directly from a colporter. Library subscription price, "$2.25 per annum, postpaid; single numbers 15 cents each, postpaid."
In 1906 the Institute reported, “ e volume of business transacted was $76,855.33 as compared with $49,484.23 in 1905. The sale of Colportage Library books was 192,308 copies as compared with 192,490 copies in 1905. The vitality of this series is shown by the constant demand for even the earliest numbers, there being 196,509 reprints in all during 1906. 236,877 copies of the Emphasized Gospel of John were published during 1906. Retail mail order business amounted to $10,839.50 as compared with $8,221.11 in 1905. 100 colporters (about) at work at any one time. Fifteen regular employees at Association's headquarters in Chicago. Twenty-two depots of supply for the Association's colporters in the United States and elsewhere.”
By January 1, 1917, 126 titles had issued, totaling 6,718,313 copies printed. Foreign-language editions included German, Danish-Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Italian and Bohemian publications, with requests for translations in Polish, Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
, French, and other languages.
In 1941, after more than 12 million books in this series had been sold, BICA became Moody Press
Moody Bible Institute (MBI) is a private evangelical Christian Bible college founded in the Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, US by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Historically, MBI has maintained positions that have i ...
.
References
{{Authority control Obsolete occupations Sales occupations Evangelism Christian terminology