Intoxicants and the invention of 'consumption'

In 1600 the word ‘consumption’ was a term of medical pathology describing the ‘wasting, petrification of things’. By 1700 it was also a term of economic discourse: ‘In commodities, the value rises as its quantity is less and vent greater, which depends upon it being preferred in its consumption’. The article traces the emergence of this key category of economic analysis to debates over the economy in the 1620s and subsequent disputes over the excise tax, showing how ‘consumption’ was an early term in the developing lexicon of political economy. In so doing the article demonstrates the important role of ‘intoxicants’ – i.e. addictive and intoxicating commodities like alcohols and tobaccos – in shaping these early meanings and uses of ‘consumption’. It outlines the discursive importance of intoxicants, both as the foci for discussions of ‘superfluous’ and ‘necessary’ consumption and the target of legislation on consumption. And it argues that while these discussions had an ideological dimension, or dimensions, they were also responses to material increases in the volume and diversity of intoxicants in early seventeenth-century England. By way of conclusion the article suggests the significance of the Low Countries as a point of reference for English writers, as well as a more capacious and semantically sensitive approach to changes in early-modern consumption practices

‘A place of great trust to be supplied by men of skill and integrity’: assayers and knowledge cultures in late sixteenth-and seventeenth-century London

This article suggests that institutional workshops of assay were significant experimental sites in early modern London. Master assayers at Goldsmiths’ Hall on Foster Lane, in the heart of the city, and at the Royal Mint, in the Tower, made trials to determine the precious-metal content of bullion, plate and coinage. The results of their metallurgical experiments directly impacted upon the reputations and livelihoods of London's goldsmiths and merchants, and the fineness of coin and bullion. Engaged in the separation and transformation of matter, assayers and the affairs of their workshops were also a curiosity for those interested in the secrets of nature. Making use of a wide-ranging body of sources, including institutional court minutes, artisanal petitions, mercantile guidebooks, recipe books and natural-philosophical treatises, this article uncovers a complex culture of metropolitan expertise. We first examine the workshop spaces in which assayers undertook their professional activities, and their secretive corporate cultures. We turn next to the manuscript culture through which assayers codified and communicated knowledge, ‘secrets’ and techniques to broader urban audiences. Finally, we assess exchanges and tensions between assayers and the wider community of Londoners engaged in scientific knowledge production and dissemination

Accounting: A General Commentary on an Empirical Science

Many researchers have questioned the view of accounting as a science. Some maintain that it is a service activity rather than a science, yet others entertain the view that it is an art or merely a technology. While it is true that accounting provides a service and is a technology (a methodology for recording and reporting), that fact does not prevent accounting from being a science. Based upon the structure and knowledge base of the discipline, this paper presents the case for accounting as an empirical science

1622/1628: Consuetudo, vel, Lex Mercatoria

Malynes, Gerard. Consuetudo, vel, Lex Mercatoria: or, The Ancient Law-Merchant. London: Printed by Adam Islip, 1622/1628. Gerard Malynes (1585–1641) first published his popular book on commercial law and commerce in 1622. He divides his work into three parts: commodities, money, and bills of exchange. An eminently useful and respected book, Consuetudo captures the developing practices of mercantile law in the seventeenth century. In doing so, it relies heavily on civil law and the practical experience of the author, who had no legal training. A total of four editions were published, the last in 1686. Oddly, this edition, from either 1622 or 1628, is incorrectly bound with a title page from a 1685 edition of the work. View this book\u27s record in the library catalog.https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/oldelawebookes/1024/thumbnail.jp

1622/1628: Consuetudo, vel, Lex Mercatoria

Malynes, Gerard. Consuetudo, vel, Lex Mercatoria: or, The Ancient Law-Merchant. London: Printed by Adam Islip, 1622/1628. Gerard Malynes (1585–1641) first published his popular book on commercial law and commerce in 1622. He divides his work into three parts: commodities, money, and bills of exchange. An eminently useful and respected book, Consuetudo captures the developing practices of mercantile law in the seventeenth century. In doing so, it relies heavily on civil law and the practical experience of the author, who had no legal training. A total of four editions were published, the last in 1686. Oddly, this edition, from either 1622 or 1628, is incorrectly bound with a title page from a 1685 edition of the work. View this book\u27s record in the library catalog.https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/oldelawebookes/1024/thumbnail.jp

An essay on the fishing trade. [electronic resource] : By Gerard Malines merchant.

P. 22: "This is the 47th chapter of Malynes his Lex mercatoria.".Price from imprint: price 3 d.Electronic reproduction.English Short Title Catalog,Reproduction of original from Harvard University Houghton Library