Consumption and the country house /
This study explores the consumption practices of the landed aristocracy of Georgian England. Focusing on three families and drawing on detailed analysis of account books, receipted bills, household inventories, diaries and correspondence, this book charts the spending patterns of this elite group du...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford ; New York :
Oxford University Press,
2016.
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| Edition: | First Edition. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | This study explores the consumption practices of the landed aristocracy of Georgian England. Focusing on three families and drawing on detailed analysis of account books, receipted bills, household inventories, diaries and correspondence, this book charts the spending patterns of this elite group during the so-called consumer revolution of the eighteenth century. Generally examined through the lens of middling families, homes and motivations, this book explores the ways in which the aristocracy were engaged in this wider transformation of English society. Analysis centers on the goods that the aristocracy purchased, both luxurious and mundane, the extent to which they pursued fashionable modes and goods, the role that family and friends played in shaping notions of taste, the influence of gender on taste and refinement, the geographical reach of provisioning and the networks that lay behind this consumer activity and the way this all contributed to the construction of the country house. The country house thus emerges as much more than a repository of luxury and splendor. It lay at the heart of complex networks of exchange, sociability, demand and supply. |
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| Physical Description: | x, 304 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits, genealogical tables ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages [277]-296) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780198726265 0198726260 |