Objects of Poverty: Material Culture in Britain from 1700

Objects of Poverty is the first volume dedicated to analysing the material culture of poverty in British history from 1700 to the present.

The book examines the history of poverty through the objects ‘owned’ by the poor and those crafted, repurposed or simply encountered by them, offering critical new insights into the experience of being impoverished.

This collection brings together leading and emerging scholars who draw on a wide array of ‘objects of poverty’ from those that survive today, ranging from dolls to whistles to textile samples, to those that have long since gone and now only exist in visual and written sources. The contributors trace the importance of materiality in eighteenth-century and modern life, covering objects connected to sustenance, home, the makeshift, childhood, animals, money, workhouses, and injury and death. In its 23 chapters, along with some 77 illustrations, the book provides a detailed exploration of the history of poverty in Britain. Each of the chapters are based on original research and make a new contribution to the literature. This book will be fascinating reading for history enthusiasts to students to established academics across multiple disciplines.

• Publication date: 21 August 2025
• Page count: 344
• Dimensions: Height 236 mm; Width 154 mm; Thickness 24 mm
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Format: Hardback
• ISBN-13: 9781350368187