Andrew Hann - Böcker

This economic, social and cultural analysis of the nature and variety of production and consumption activities in households in Kent and Cornwall yields important new insights on the transition to capitalism in England.

Consumption is well established as a key theme in the study of the eighteenth century. Spaces of Consumption brings a new dimension to this subject by looking at it spatially. Taking English towns as its scene, this inspiring study focuses on moments of consumption – selecting and purchasing goods, attending plays, promenading – and explores the ways in which these were related together through the spaces of the town: the shop, the theatre and the street. Using this fresh form of analysis, it has much to say about sociability, politeness and respectability in the eighteenth century.

Consumption is well established as a key theme in the study of the eighteenth century. Spaces of Consumption brings a new dimension to this subject by looking at it spatially. Taking English towns as its scene, this inspiring study focuses on moments of consumption – selecting and purchasing goods, attending plays, promenading – and explores the ways in which these were related together through the spaces of the town: the shop, the theatre and the street. Using this fresh form of analysis, it has much to say about sociability, politeness and respectability in the eighteenth century.

This economic, social and cultural analysis of the nature and variety of production and consumption activities in households in Kent and Cornwall yields important new insights on the transition to capitalism in England.

This book presents a series of conference papers which explore a topic that has received a good deal of interest in recent years, namely the material culture of the country house and its presentation to the public. This links in with academic interest in the consumption practices of the elite, and in the country house as a lived and living space, which was consciously transformed according to fashion and personal taste; but also ties in well with our concern as curators to present a coherent narrative of English Heritage and other properties and their contents to the modern visitor.The proceedings address a number of current academic debates about elite consumption practices, and the role of landed society as arbiters of taste. By looking at the country house as lived space many of the papers throw up interesting questions about the accumulation and arrangement of objects; the way in which rooms were used and experienced by both owners and visitors, and how this sense of ‘living history’ can be presented meaningfully to the public. The conference was international in scope, so the experience in the United Kingdom can be compared with that in other European countries, throwing new light on our understanding of consumption and the country house.