books on shopping

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 11:52 am Post subject: books on shopping

Some sort of serendipity is providing me with interesting books on the history of shops and shopping lately. In the last month, I've found the following three books in used bookstores, all interesting and useful in different ways:

SHOPS AND SHOPPING 1800-1914 by Alison Adburgham. The subtitle says it all: Where, and in What Manner the Well-Dressed Englishwoman Bought her Clothes. Only the first 30 pages or so cover the Regency, but it is good stuff with great pictures.

ENGLISH SHOPS AND SHOPPING: An Architectural History by Kathryn A. Morrison. This is a big, gorgeous, coffee-table book filled with great photos. Again, only the early chapters are pre-Victorian, but the text is full of useful details, both of fashionable shopping in London and other big towns, as well as market days in the country.

SHOPS AND SHOPKEEPING IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ENGLAND by Hoh-cheung nd Lorna H. Mui. This is a more academic study than the previous two and is, of course, somewhat earlier than the Regency, but one must assume some things did not change all that much. Lots of detailed info on tea merchants, which I found fascinating.