"Exchanges have always had more than economic significance: values circulate and encounters become institutionalized. This volume explores the changing meaning of the circulation of second-hand goods from the Renaissance to today, and thereby examines the blurring of boundaries between market, gifts, and charity. It describes the actors of the market - official entities such as corporations, recognized professions, and established markets but also the subterranean circulation that develops around the need for money. The complex layers that not only provide for numerous intermediaries but also include the many men and women who, as sellers or buyers, use these circulations on countless occasions are also examined." --Book Jacket.

His successes as a political reformer have been exaggerated, and his diplomatic views have been largely misunderstood. In religion, government and diplomacy he was only more or less successful, and his greatness lies in the personal influence he wielded in all these spheres, rather than in the actual changes he brought about. His defects of character are those of his generation; his virtues are those of Counter-Reformation Europe; and his life is worthy of study by all who would understand the problem of regulating human affairs. - Preface.