Colportage

From French colportage, where the term is an alteration of comporter, 'to peddle', as a portmanteau or pun with the word col (Latin collum, 'neck'), with the resulting meaning 'to carry on one's neck'.

In Christ in the Camp: or, Religion in Lee's Army (1887),[1] Dr. John William Jones refers to the chaplains carrying bibles and tracts during the American Civil War as colporteurs.

In addition to public preaching, distributing literature was a large part of the work of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.

One popular subject was fictionalization of current events; for example, the early volumes of a serial colportage novel about Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) were already being sold in 1870.

D. L. Moody founded the Bible Institute Colportage Association (BICA) in 1894 to provide a source for inexpensive Christian literature.

Twenty-two depots of supply for the Association's colporters in the United States and elsewhere.”[9] 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, French, and other languages.