Finance and Culture in Nineteenth Century Britain

This four-volume primary source collection examines the links between the financial world and British culture in the nineteenth-century. The twenty-first-century financial world had its origins in nineteenth-century Britain with industrialism, imperial expansion, and a robust securities market. New developments in limited liability and financial journalism democratized investment, rendering Victorian Britain a nation of shareholders. The City of London and the London Stock Exchange sat at the very centre of international finance, much as the New York Stock Exchange does today. The history of nineteenth-century finance is also the history of culture and cultural change. Finance cut across all aspects of life in the nineteenth-century. It was central to many social and political issues, including the “woman question” (should women invest their own money?) and Liberal reform (did a laissez-faire economy adequately protect ordinary investors?) The ups and downs of the stock market were also central to the plots of Victorian novels and plays. This multi-volume collection of primary source materials, accompanied by extensive editorial commentary, document the origins, growth, and impact of Britain’s financial system.