Consuming Splendor: Society and Culture in Seventeenth-Century England

by Linda Levy Peck

A fascinating study of the ways in which the consumption of luxury goods transformed social practices, gender roles, royal policies, and the economy in seventeenth-century England. Linda Levy Peck charts the development of new ways of shopping; new aspirations and identities shaped by print, continental travel, and trade to Asia, Africa, the East and West Indies; new building, furnishing, and collecting; and the new relationship of technology, luxury and science. As contemporaries eagerly appropriated and copied foreign material culture, the expansion of luxury consumption continued across the usual divide of the Civil War and the Interregnum and helped to propel England from the margins to the center of European growth and innovation. Her findings show for the first time the seventeenth-century origins of consumer society and she offers the reader a novel framework for the history of seventeenth-century England.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature, 17th Century, Economics

448 pages, Hardcover

First published September 19, 2005

About the author

Linda Levy Peck is Professor Emeritus of History at George Washington University.

Reviews

[Lynne Christensen]

A fascinating look at luxury goods and the history of materialism. Linkages between seventeenth century England and her trading with Asia, Africa plus the East and West Indies are discussed. Definitely makes one take stock of possessions; books were once incredible rarities that only the very wealthy could afford. From coffee houses to lace and diamonds, this is an intelligent read for those interested in this historical time period.