Joan Coutu is professor of art history and visual culture at the University of Waterloo and the author of Then and Now: Collecting and Classicism in Eighteenth-Century England. Jon Stobart is professor of social history at Manchester Metropolitan University.Peter Lindfield is lecturer in history at Manchester Metropolitan University.

"A fascinating, important, and well-crafted volume that explores architecture and collections, and their intersections with ideas, society, and varying levels of politics in new ways." Stephen Hague, author of The Gentleman's House in the British Atlantic World, 1680–1780 "Contributors use archival material to examine how objects were intended to be received, which tells us a great deal about how the owners wished to present themselves politically, economically, socially, and aesthetically. Such methodology contributes to the growing trend in scholarship to blend analysis of the built environment and material and visual culture displayed within it to decipher their shared intended meaning. Heritage professionals, curators, dramatists, and novelists should read this book. The discussions will enhance the conjuring of space to the modern reader, viewer, and visitor." H-Environment"This fascinating interdisciplinary collection ... offers important evidence of the specific and varied ways the country house operated as a levy of political capital, legitimacy and allegiance." *Cultural and Social History**

Joan Coutu is professor of art history and visual culture at the University of Waterloo and the author of Then and Now: Collecting and Classicism in Eighteenth-Century England. Jon Stobart is professor of social history at Manchester Metropolitan University.Peter Lindfield is lecturer in history at Manchester Metropolitan University.

"A fascinating, important, and well-crafted volume that explores architecture and collections, and their intersections with ideas, society, and varying levels of politics in new ways." Stephen Hague, author of The Gentleman's House in the British Atlantic World, 1680–1780 "Contributors use archival material to examine how objects were intended to be received, which tells us a great deal about how the owners wished to present themselves politically, economically, socially, and aesthetically. Such methodology contributes to the growing trend in scholarship to blend analysis of the built environment and material and visual culture displayed within it to decipher their shared intended meaning. Heritage professionals, curators, dramatists, and novelists should read this book. The discussions will enhance the conjuring of space to the modern reader, viewer, and visitor." H-Environment"This fascinating interdisciplinary collection ... offers important evidence of the specific and varied ways the country house operated as a levy of political capital, legitimacy and allegiance." *Cultural and Social History**

Joan Coutu is professor of art history and visual culture at the University of Waterloo and the author of Then and Now: Collecting and Classicism in Eighteenth-Century England. Jon Stobart is professor of social history at Manchester Metropolitan University.Peter Lindfield is lecturer in history at Manchester Metropolitan University.

"A fascinating, important, and well-crafted volume that explores architecture and collections, and their intersections with ideas, society, and varying levels of politics in new ways." Stephen Hague, author of The Gentleman's House in the British Atlantic World, 1680–1780 "Contributors use archival material to examine how objects were intended to be received, which tells us a great deal about how the owners wished to present themselves politically, economically, socially, and aesthetically. Such methodology contributes to the growing trend in scholarship to blend analysis of the built environment and material and visual culture displayed within it to decipher their shared intended meaning. Heritage professionals, curators, dramatists, and novelists should read this book. The discussions will enhance the conjuring of space to the modern reader, viewer, and visitor." H-Environment"This fascinating interdisciplinary collection ... offers important evidence of the specific and varied ways the country house operated as a levy of political capital, legitimacy and allegiance." *Cultural and Social History**