Shoplifting in Eighteenth-century England
Title | Shoplifting in Eighteenth-century England PDF eBook |
Author | Shelley Tickell |
Publisher | People, Markets, Goods: Economies and Societies in History |
Pages | 0 |
Release | 2018 |
Genre | Shoplifting |
ISBN | 9781783273287 |
Shoplifting in Eighteenth-Century England examines the nature and impact on society of this commercial crime at a time of rapid retail expansion during the long eighteenth century. As a new consumer culture took root in England and shops proliferated, the crime of shoplifting leaped to public prominence. In 1699 shoplifting became a hanging offence. Yet whether compelled by need or greed, shoplifters continued to operate in substantial numbers on the shopping streets of London and provincial towns. Regarded initially as exclusively a crime of the poor, the eighteenth century witnessed a transformation in the public perception and understanding of such customer theft, signalled by the shocking arrest of Jane Austen's wealthy aunt for shoplifting in 1799. This book shows, through systematic profiling of those who committed this crime, that shoplifting was primarily a crime of the poor and predominantly an opportunist one. Providing both quantitative analysis and engaging insights into real-life stories, the book describes the variable strategies adopted by shoplifters to raid elite and poorer stores, the practical responses of shopkeepers to this predation and the financial impact on their businesses. It investigates the trade lobbying that led to the passing of the Shoplifting Act, the degree to which retailers co-operated with the judiciary and their engagement with the capital law reform movement of the later eighteenth century. Examining the range of goods stolen, the book also addresses questions of whether or not this form of theft was driven by consumer desire andsuggests that more subtle social and economic motives were at work. SHELLEY TICKELL is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire
Shoplifting in Eighteenth-century England
Title | Shoplifting in Eighteenth-century England PDF eBook |
Author | Shelley Gail Tickell |
Publisher | |
Pages | |
Release | 2015 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
Stealing Books in Eighteenth-Century London
Title | Stealing Books in Eighteenth-Century London PDF eBook |
Author | Richard Coulton |
Publisher | Springer |
Pages | 153 |
Release | 2016-11-07 |
Genre | Literary Criticism |
ISBN | 1137411961 |
This study offers an authoritative and readable account of the hidden history of book theft in eighteenth-century London. It exploits a rich primary source, the compelling narratives of crime contained in the digitised Proceedings of the Old Bailey. The authors explain how cases of book theft came to court, and how in the ensuing trials the nature of the book itself became a question for legal debate. They assess the motives which led Londoners to steal books and the methods they employed in thefts from households and booksellers. Finally, the authors ask what the Proceedings tells us about the social ownership of books, and how the phenomenon of book theft differently affected book producers and consumers. Stealing Books in Eighteenth-Century London will appeal to readers interested in the connected histories of metropolitan life, crime, and the book in this period, and in the uses of digital resources in humanities research.
Crime and Punishment in Eighteenth Century England
Title | Crime and Punishment in Eighteenth Century England PDF eBook |
Author | Frank McLynn |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 434 |
Release | 2013-06-17 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1136093168 |
McLynn provides the first comprehensive view of crime and its consequences in the eighteenth century: why was England notorious for violence? Why did the death penalty prove no deterrent? Was it a crude means of redistributing wealth?
London Lives
Title | London Lives PDF eBook |
Author | Tim Hitchcock |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 479 |
Release | 2015-12-03 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1107025273 |
This book surveys the lives and experiences of hundreds of thousands of eighteenth-century non-elite Londoners in the evolution of the modern world.
The Steal
Title | The Steal PDF eBook |
Author | Rachel Shteir |
Publisher | Penguin |
Pages | 248 |
Release | 2011-06-30 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1101516283 |
A history of shoplifting, revealing the roots of our modern dilemma. Rachel Shteir's The Steal is the first serious study of shoplifting, tracking the fascinating history of this ancient crime. Dismissed by academia and the mainstream media and largely misunderstood, shoplifting has become the territory of moralists, mischievous teenagers, tabloid television, and self-help gurus. But shoplifting incurs remarkable real-life costs for retailers and consumers. The "crime tax"-the amount every American family loses to shoplifting-related price inflation-is more than $400 a year. Shoplifting cost American retailers $11.7 billion in 2009. The theft of one $5.00 item from Whole Foods can require sales of hundreds of dollars to break even. The Steal begins when shoplifting entered the modern record as urbanization and consumerism made London into Europe's busiest mercantile capital. Crossing the channel to nineteenth-century Paris, Shteir tracks the rise of the department store and the pathologizing of shoplifting as kleptomania. In 1960s America, shoplifting becomes a symbol of resistance when the publication of Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book popularizes shoplifting as an antiestablishment act. Some contemporary analysts see our current epidemic as a response to a culture of hyper-consumerism; others question whether its upticks can be tied to economic downturns at all. Few provide convincing theories about why it goes up or down. Just as experts can't agree on why people shoplift, they can't agree on how to stop it. Shoplifting has been punished by death, discouraged by shame tactics, and protected against by high-tech surveillance. Shoplifters have been treated by psychoanalysis, medicated with pharmaceuticals, and enforced by law to attend rehabilitation groups. While a few individuals have abandoned their sticky-fingered habits, shoplifting shows no signs of slowing. In The Steal, Shteir guides us through a remarkable tour of all things shoplifting-we visit the Woodbury Commons Outlet Mall, where boosters run rampant, watch the surveillance footage from Winona Ryder's famed shopping trip, and learn the history of antitheft technology. A groundbreaking study, The Steal shows us that shoplifting in its many guises-crime, disease, protest-is best understood as a reflection of our society, ourselves.
Gender, Crime and Judicial Discretion 1780-1830
Title | Gender, Crime and Judicial Discretion 1780-1830 PDF eBook |
Author | Deirdre Palk |
Publisher | Boydell & Brewer |
Pages | 214 |
Release | 2006 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 086193282X |
Crimes in England in the 18th and 19th centuries were committed and judged differently, depending on whether the culprit was male or female. This study of the English judicial system in London provides a detailed view of its complex workings, with particular attention to the role and treatment of women.