Objects of Poverty

This edited volume examines the history of poverty through the objects owned by the poor and those crafted, repurposed, or simply encountered by them.

Bringing together leading and emerging scholars, the book draws 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.

The book provides a detailed exploration of the history of poverty in Britain, based on original research.