Tradition and Innovation in English Retailing, 1700 to 1850

Ian Mitchell is Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Wolverhampton, UK.

• Contents: Preface; Introduction; Part I Traditional and Dynamic: Retailing c.1700-1820; Basic goods at a fair price: the morality of the market; Pillars of the community: ’traditional’ urban retailers; On the margins: itinerant traders and neighbourhood shopkeepers. Part II Disturbing Influences: Luxury, Novelty and Fashion: Competing narratives: consumption and contentment; A fashionable assortment: retailing and polite society; Showing off: consuming and collecting. Part III Retailing, Consumption and Modernity: Adaptation and Innovation c.1820-1850: The triumph of commerce: the changing face of retailing c.1820-1850; Civic pride: market halls; Conclusion: everybody’s story; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.

’Mitchell argues convincingly that modernity was a fragmented and fractured process, and successfully anchors grand narratives in the complexity of everyday experience. He focuses at least some of our attention onto traditional and humble forms of retailing and invites us - quite rightly - to think closely about the link between retailer and consumer... this is an impressive and very readable book; one that provides rich insights into a dynamic and diverse set of economic and social practices.’ Agricultural History Review ’Mitchell’s book is effective in its attempt to rebalance the historiography of retailing which has largely been driven by evidence of change. After all, the course of retail development cannot be described solely in terms of an inevitable trend towards innovation...By drawing together multiple narratives Mitchell provides a nuanced perspective on the period and succeeds in suggesting that evidence of continuity should be analysed as vigorously as that of change in order to provide the most realistic interpretation of the past.’ Economic History Review