Darnton, Robert2020-04-292013Darnton, Robert. 2013. “Blogging, Now and Then (250 Years Ago).” European Romantic Review 24 (3) (June): 255–270. doi:10.1080/10509585.2013.789694.1050-9585http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:42662009Long before the Internet, Europeans exchanged information in ways that anticipated blogging. The key element of their information system was the “anecdote,” a term that meant nearly the opposite then from what it means today. Anecdotes, dispensed by “libellistes” and “paragraph men,” became a staple in the daily diet of news consumed by readers in eighteenth-century France and England. They were also pilfered, reworked, and served up in books. By tracking anecdotes through texts, we can rethink the history of books and reassess a rich strain of history and literature.en-USJournal Article2020-04-2910.1080/10509585.2013.789694