Auctions and Households in the Eighteenth-Century World

The long eighteenth century is often seen as a time when consumption was driven by novelty, fashion and an expanding world of goods. This book takes an innovative approach to the supply of and demand for consumer goods in this period by exploring the nature, organisation and experience of household sales: events where used goods re-entered the market.

These sales took place in a wide variety of settings, from country houses to garrisons and from large cities to remote rural settlements. They were important economic and social events that offer new insights into the emergence of a modern consumer society and its relationship with material goods. In bringing together case studies from different settings across Europe, North America, the Caribbean and India, it offers a unique comparative perspective on an important and surprisingly neglected mechanism of economic exchange. Household sales played a vital role in the (re)circulation of household goods during this crucial period in the history of consumption. It not only reveals the common practices and shared desires that brought together auctions in diverse places, but also highlights how household sales were flexible events, shaped by local circumstances and priorities.

Auctions and Households in the Eighteenth-Century World is aimed at scholars and students of economic history, material culture and consumption studies, as well as anyone interested in the social and cultural dynamics of the eighteenth century.