A very short, cheaply produced volume, of a few leaves. Modern chapbooks
may be a collection of folded leaves loosely held in a folded cardboard
or stiff paper cover, or the pages might be stapled.
Historically, chapbooks were introduced in the 16th Century to meet the
demands of a growing literate populace by allowing for very cheap books.
The term chapbook was introduced in the early 19th Century, referring to
chapmen, a term describing street peddlers who were the common salesmen
of these cheap volumes.
