A Cultural History of Shopping was a Library Journal Best in Reference selection for 2022.
Across Europe, the Early Modern period was marked by political, religious and cultural upheaval, and saw the emergence of the first global economy, developments which profoundly impacted how people shopped and what they were able to buy. This volume engages with the key debates around continuity and change in consumer behavior in the ‘long 16th century’ and the ways in which shopping became an educational and exciting act for many women, men and children across the social spectrum: shops and market stalls were filled with an increasingly wide range of goods made by skilled craftspeople and transported by merchants making evermore ambitious and lucrative journeys across the world. Even servants and the poor were exposed to these new things, for they could consume by eye and ear what they could not afford to take home in material form. Although they did not yet have a word for the activity of “shopping,” in this period men and women came to understand that this activity was more than a functional act to acquire necessities.
A Cultural History of Shopping in the Early Modern Age presents an overview of the period with themes addressing practices and processes; spaces and places; shoppers and identities; luxury and everyday; home and family; visual and literary representations; reputation, trust and credit; and governance, regulation and the state.
List of Illustrations
Notes on Contributors
Series Preface, Jon Stobart
Introduction, Tim Reinke-Williams
1. Practices and Processes, Bruno Blondé, Julie De Groot and Peter Stabel
2. Spaces and Places, Nancy Cox and Tim Reinke-Williams
3. Shoppers and Identities, Ian W. Archer
4. Luxury and Everyday, Katherine M. Tycz
5. Home and Family, Maria Cannon
6. Visual and Literary Representations, Sophie Pitman
7. Reputation, Trust and Credit, James E. Shaw
8. Governance, Regulation and the State, Aaron Allen
Bibliography
Index
The Cultural Histories are multi-volume sets that survey the social and cultural construction of specific subjects across six historical periods, broadly:
- Antiquity
- The Medieval Age
- The Early Modern Age
- The Age of Enlightenment
- The Age of Empire
- The Modern Age
The subjects covered range from Animals to Dress and Fashion, from Sport to Furniture, from Money to Fairy Tales. Each volume discusses the same themes in its chapters so that readers may gain an understanding of a period by reading an entire volume, or follow a theme through history by reading the relevant chapter in each volume. Each six-volume set is illustrated.
Titles are available as printed sets for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a one-off purchase and tangible reference for their shelves, or as part of a fully searchable digital library available to institutions by annual subscription or perpetual access (see www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com).
PRAISE FOR THE SERIES
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A Cultural History of Hair
“A thick, tangled and deliciously idiosyncratic history of hair.”
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A Cultural History of Tragedy
“A highly contemporary work, alert to politics, social theory and sexuality.”
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A Cultural History of Western Empires
“Students seeking a comparative, interdisciplinary, and compelling account of the spread of Western empires will find much of interest here.”
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A Cultural History of Work
“[Programs] such as economics, American and world history, women’s studies, and art history will benefit from the information herein.”
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