The Romance of Gambling in the Eighteenth-Century British Novel (Palgrave Studies in the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Cultures of Print)

Gambling Permeated The Daily Lives Of Eighteenth-century Britons Of All Classes. This Book Explicates The Relationship Between The Rampant Gambling In Eighteenth-century England, The New Forms Of Gambling-inspired Capitalism That Transformed British Society, And Novels That Interrogate The New Socio-economy Of Long Odds And Lucky Breaks-- Machine Generated Contents Note: -- List Of Illustrations -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: The Gambling Culture Of Eighteenth-century Britain -- 'putting To Hazard A Certainty': Lotteries And The Romance Of Gambling In Eighteenth-century England (sir Charles Grandison, The Excursion) -- Cheating, Calculation, And The Episodic Romance Of Gambling (hoyle's Short Treatise, Ferdinand Count Fathom, Amelia) -- The Gambling Man Of Feeling: Sublime And Sentimental Gambling (cecilia, The Adventures Of David Simple, The Mysteries Of Udolpho) -- The Lady's Last Stake: Camilla And The Female Gambler -- Children's Games 'abroad And At Home': Belinda, Education, And Empire -- The Confidence Man: Persuasion And The Romance Of Risk -- Afterword: The Eighteenth-century Risk Society -- Works Cited -- Index. Jessica Richard. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. From high-stakes Faro to lottery insurance to petty wagers, even to the very instruments of the Financial Revolution, gambling permeated the daily lives of eighteenth-century Britons of all classes. Jessica Richard argues that the romance of gambling, its celebration of the chance incalculable event, the heroic achievement against all odds, the lucky break, is foundational to eighteenth-century British culture and as such a central concern for the period's novels. Analyzing works by Richardson, Brooke, Smollett, Henry and Sarah Fielding, Burney, Radcliffe, Edgeworth, and Austen, along with gambling ephemera such as playing cards and games manuals, Richard shows that novelists use gambling scenarios not to tame chance but to interrogate its role in generic form and in a transforming capital economy inspired by and dependent on gambling. "Gambling permeated the daily lives of eighteenth-century Britons of all classes. This book explicates the relationship between the rampant gambling in eighteenth-century England, the new forms of gambling-inspired capitalism that transformed British society, and novels that interrogate the new socio-economy of long odds and lucky breaks." "Gambling permeated the daily lives of eighteenth-century Britons of all classes. This book explicates the relationship between the rampant gambling in eighteenth-century England, the new forms of gambling-inspired capitalism that transformed British society, and novels that interrogate the new socio-economy of long odds and lucky breaks"-- Provided by publisher