British Discovery Literature and the Rise of Global Commerce

British Discovery Literature and the Rise of Global Commerce examines how, between 1680 and 1800, British maritime travellers became both friends and foes of the commercial state. These nomadic characters report on remote parts of the globe in the twin contexts of an increasingly powerful imperial state and an emerging world economy. Examining voyage narratives by William Dampler, Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, Tobias Smollett, Samuel Johnson, James Cook, and William Bligh, Neill demonstrates how the transformation of travellers from nomadic outlaws into civil subjects, and vice versa, takes place against the political-economic backdrop of commercial expansion. British Discovery Literature And The Rise Of Global Commerce Examines How, Between 1680 And 1800, British Maritime Travellers Became Both Friends And Foes Of The Commercial State. These Nomadic Characters Report On Remote Parts Of The Globe In The Twin Contexts Of An Increasingly Powerful Imperial State And An Emerging World Economy. Anna Neill Explores How Travellers Who Have Drifted Beyond The Reach Of State Power Are Depicted As 'savage' Creatures Of A State Of Nature That Knows Little Of Government And Even Less Of Commerce. Examining Voyage Narratives By William Dampier, Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, Tobias Smollett, Samuel Johnson, James Cook And William Bligh, The Author Demonstrates How The Transformation Of Travellers From Nomadic Outlaws Into Civil Subjects, And Vice Versa, Takes Place Against The Political-economic Background Of Commercial Expansion. Such Narratives, Neill Argues, Can Both Illustrate The Increasing Sophistication Of Global Capitalism, While Also Revealing How The Very Encounter With The Non-european World Provoked New Expressions Of Resistance To Commercial Imperialism.--book Jacket. 1. Introduction: Commerce, Society And The Sea Voyage -- 2. Buccaneer Ethnography: Nature, Culture And The State In The Journals Of William Dampier -- 3. International Trade And Individual Enterprise: Defoe's Maritime Adventurers -- 4. Swift And The Geographers: Race, Space And Merchant Capital In Gulliver's Travels -- 5. Roderick Random, Rasselas And The Currents Of Fancy -- 6. South Seas Trade And The Character Of Captains -- 7. Conclusion: Global Commerce And Homelessness. Anna Neill. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 209-221) And Index. Cover 1 Contents 6 List of Illustrations 8 Acknowledgements 10 1 Introduction: Commerce, Society and the Sea Voyage 12 Travel, Science and the State 15 Government, Manners and the Social Knowledge of Travellers 24 Mercantilism and Global Commerce 29 Outline of the Argument 33 2 Buccaneer Ethnography: Nature, Culture and the State in the Journals of William Dampier 42 Science and Statecraft 42 Beyond the Line: Stateless Outlaws or English Subjects? 47 Piracy and Ethnography 51 Discovery and Trade in the East Indies and New Holland 56 3 International Trade and Individual Enterprise: Defoe’s Maritime Adventurers 63 Crusoe’s Children: Orphans, Cannibals and Colonial Rule 66 Crusoe’s Farther Adventures: The Nature of Trade and the Law of Nations 76 Crime, Vagrancy and Trade in Captain Singleton 87 4 Swift and the Geographers: Race, Space and Merchant Capital in Gulliver’s Travels 94 Geography, Merchant Capital and the State 96 Early Eighteenth-Century Geography: Space, Peoples and the Global Marketplace 101 Geography and Monstrosity in Gulliver’s Travels 115 5 Roderick Random, Rasselas and the Currents of Fancy 131 Patriotism and the Picaresque 132 Rasselas and Cosmopolitanism 147 6 South Seas Trade and the Character of Captains 160 Sympathy, Commerce and Character 163 Captaincy and Humanity 169 Mutiny on the Bounty 180 7 Conclusion: Global Commerce and Homelessness 191 Notes 196 References 220 Index 233 A 233 B 233 C 233 D 234 E 234 F 235 G 235 H 235 I 235 J 236 K 236 L 236 M 236 N 237 O 237 P 237 Q 238 R 238 S 238 T 239 U 240 V 240 W 240 Y 240 Z 240 This title examines how, between 1680 and 1800, British maritime travellers became both friends and foes of the commercial state. These nomadic characters report on remote parts of the globe in the twin contexts of an increasingly powerful imperial state and an emerging world economy Eighteenth-century British travellers have been much talked about in recent decades.