First Published in 1968. This is an account of the Boulton-Watt partnership and adds another item to the now growing series of writings on the history of individual firms or individual pioneers of modern business. The choice of this particular firm is due to three facts: the great importance of the enterprise; the concentration in Birmingham of the bulk of its records (the completeness and state of preservation of which is almost unique), and the lack, notwithstanding the existence of several books on the subject, of any exhaustive history from the economist's standpoint of what must be regarded as the foremost engineering firm of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

First Published in 1968. This is an account of the Boulton-Watt partnership and adds another item to the now growing series of writings on the history of individual firms or individual pioneers of modern business. The choice of this particular firm is due to three facts : the great importance of the enterprise ; the concentration in Birmingham of the bulk of its records (the completeness and state of preservation of which is almost unique), and the lack, notwithstanding the existence of several books on the subject, of any exhaustive history from the economist's standpoint of what must be regarded as the foremost engineering firm of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Matthew Boulton was a leading industrialist, entrepreneur and Enlightenment figure. Often overshadowed through his association with James Watt, his Soho manufactories put Birmingham at the centre of what has recently been termed 'The Industrial Enlightenment'. Exploring his many activities and manufactures-and the regional, national and international context in which he operated-this publication provides a valuable index to the current state of Boulton studies. Combining original contributions from social, economic, and cultural historians, with those of historians of science, technology and art, archaeologists and heritage professionals, the book sheds new light on the general culture of the eighteenth century, including patterns of work, production and consumption of the products of art and industry. The book also extends and enhances knowledge of the Enlightenment, industrialization and the processes of globalization in the eighteenth century.

Industrial Enlightenment explores the transition through which England passed between 1760 and 1820 on the way to becoming the world’s first industrialised nation. In drawing attention to the important role played by scientific knowledge, it focuses on a dimension of this transition which is often overlooked by historians. The book argues that in certain favoured regions, England underwent a process whereby useful knowledge was fused with technological ‘know how’ to produce the condition described here as Industrial Enlightenment. At the forefront of the process were the natural philosophers who entered into a close and productive relationship with technologists and entrepreneurs. Much of the evidence for this study is drawn from the extraordinary archival record of the activities of Matthew Boulton (1728–1809) and his Soho Manufactory. The book will appeal to those keen to explore the dynamics of change in eighteenth-century England, and to those with a broad interest in the cultural history of science and technology.