colportage

Colportage is the distribution of books, especially religious literature, by itinerant sellers known as colporteurs. The word comes from the French colporter, meaning to carry about or to peddle. In religious practice, colportage was an important method for disseminating Bibles, tracts, and other printed materials, particularly in areas with limited access to books, such as rural regions, frontier settlements, and immigrant communities.

Historically, colportage flourished in Europe and North America from the 18th through the 19th centuries, driven by Protestant missionary and Bible societies. Colporteurs traveled on foot or by horseback, setting up temporary stalls or selling from door to door. They distributed affordable editions of scriptures and catechisms, as well as religious periodicals and schoolbooks. In addition to sales, the work often included reading assistance, instruction, and the establishment of small lending libraries or reading rooms.

The practice helped widen literacy and religious education and played a role in the broader print culture of the era. It also reflected networks of voluntary societies, philanthropy, and transatlantic evangelism. With the growth of centralized publishing, improved book distribution, and secular publishing, formal colportage declined in many places during the 20th century, though some religious organizations continue to employ itinerant methods or retain the term for historical reference.

Colportage remains a historical term for this mode of book distribution and is sometimes associated with the colporteur as the person performing the activity.