This book explores students’ consumer practices and material desires in nineteenth-century Oxford. Consumerism surged among undergraduates in the 1830s and decreased by contrast from the 1860s as students learned to practice restraint and make wiser choices, putting a brake on past excessive consumption habits. This study concentrates on the minority of debtors, the daily lives of undergraduates, and their social and economic environment. It scrutinises the variety of goods that were on offer, paying special attention to their social and symbolic uses and meanings. Through emulation and self-display, undergraduate culture impacted the formation of male identities and spending habits. Using Oxford students as a case study, this book opens new pathways in the history of consumption and capitalism, revealing how youth consumer culture intertwined with the rise of competition among tradesmen and university reforms in the 1850s and 1860s.

A guide to the existence, whereabouts, contents, and other features of a major resource for historians, directories of trades and commerce in specific towns or districts. Enlarged to 2,222 entries from the 1989 edition to include directories published after 1856 and up to 1950 for England and Wales, including London; comprehensive coverage of all Scottish directories published before 1950; and miscellaneous directories of specific trades, which have not been included in previous bibliographies. A 60-page introduction traces the evolution and types of directories and discusses their use in historical studies. The 120 library collections visited are described. The indexes are arranged by publisher, place, and subject. Distributed by Books International. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR