Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain 1660-1760

<p>This is a detailed study of the material lives of the middle classes in the pre-industrial era a period which saw considerable growth in consumption. Lorna Weatherill has brought her highly important survey up-to-date in the light of new research. She provides a new introduction and bibliography taking account of the latest academic writing and methodological advances including computing and offers further conclusions about her work and its place in current literature.<br> Three main types of documentation are used to construct the overall picture: diaries household accounts and probate inventories. In investigating these sources she interprets the social meaning of material goods; and then goes on to relate this evidence to the social structures of Britain by wealth status and locality.<br> Breaking new ground in focusing on households and the use of probate inventories Weatherill has provided a book which gives both a general account of the domestic environment of the period and a scholarly analysis of the data on consumption patterns.</p>