Berg, Maxine (2002) From imitation to invention : creating commodities in eighteenth-century Britain. Economic History Review, Vol.55 (No.1). pp. 1-30. doi:10.1111/1468-0289.00212

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Abstract

This article presents the history of new goods in the eighteenth century as a part of the broader history of invention and industrialization. It focuses on product innovation in manufactured commodities as this engages with economic, technological and cultural theories. Recent theories of consumer demand are applied to the invention of commodities in the eighteenth century; special attention is given to the process of imitation in product innovation. The theoretical framework for imitation can be found in evolutionary theories of memetic transmission, in archaeological theories of skeuomorphous, and in eighteenth-century theories of taste and aesthetics. Inventors, projectors, economic policy makers, and commercial and economic writers of the period dwelt upon the invention of new British products. The emulative, imitative context for their invention made British consumer goods the distinctive modem alternatives to earlier Asian and European luxuries.

Item Type:	Journal Item
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts > History
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Commercial products -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century, Industrialization -- Great Britain
Journal or Publication Title:	Economic History Review
Publisher:	Blackwell
ISSN:	0013-0117
Official Date:	February 2002
Dates:	Date Event February 2002 Published
Volume:	Vol.55
Number:	No.1
Number of Pages:	31
Page Range:	pp. 1-30
DOI:	10.1111/1468-0289.00212
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published

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