Victorian Investments : new perspectives on finance and culture

Victorian Investments explores the relationship between the financial system in Great Britain and other aspects of Victorian society and culture. Building on the special journal issue of Victorian Studies devoted to Victorian investments, this volume is the first to define an interdisciplinary field of study emerging in the space between Marxist critiques of capitalism and traditional histories of business and economics. The contributors demonstrate how phenomena such as the expansion of colonial and foreign markets, the broadening of the investor base through the advent of limited liability, and the rise of financial journalism gave rise to a "culture of investment" that affected Victorian Britons at every level of society and influenced every kind of cultural production. Drawing together work by prominent historians as well as literary and cultural critics, Victorian Investments both defines the methodologies and perspectives that characterize an existing body of scholarship and pushes that scholarship in new directions, demonstrating the signal role of economic developments in Victorian culture and society. Victorian Investments Explores The Relationship Between The Financial System In Great Britain And Other Aspects Of Victorian Society And Culture. This Volume Is The First To Define An Interdisciplinary Field Of Study Emerging In The Space Between Marxist Critiques Of Capitalism And Traditional Histories Of Business And Economics. Contributors Demonstrate How Phenomena Such As The Expansion Of Colonial And Foreign Markets, The Broadening Of The Investor Base Through The Advent Of Limited Liability, And The Rise Of Financial Journalism All Contributed To A Culture Of Investment That Affected Victorian Britons At Every Level Of Society And Influenced Every Kind Of Cultural Production. Drawing Together Work By Prominent Historians And Literary And Cultural Critics, Victorian Investments Both Defines The Methodologies And Perspectives That Characterize An Existing Body Of Scholarship And Pushes That Scholarship In New Directions, Demonstrating The Signal Role Of Economic Developments In Victorian Culture And Society.--jacket. Introduction: Finance, Capital, Culture / Nancy Henry And Cannon Schmitt -- Part 1. A Prehistory Of Victorian Investment. 1. Signum Rememorativum, Demonstrativum, Prognostikon: Finance Capital, The Atlantic, And Slavery / Ian Baucom -- Part 2. Cultures Of Investment. 2. Writing About Finance In Victorian England: Disclosure And Secrecy In The Culture Of Investment / Mary Poovey -- 3. The First Fund Managers: Life Insurance Bonuses In Victorian Britain /timothy Alborn -- 4. Limited Liability, Market Democracy, And The Social Organization Of Production In Mid-nineteenth-century Britain / Donna Loftus -- 5. Fair Enterprise Or Extravagant Speculation: Investment, Speculation, And Gambling In Victorian England / David C. Itzkowitz -- 6. Ladies Of The Ticker: Women, Investment, And Fraud In England And America, 1850-1930 / George Robb -- Part 3. Fictions Of Investment -- 7. Trollope In The Stock Market: Irrational Exuberance And The Prime Minister / Audrey Jaffe -- 8. Rushing Into Eternity: Suicide And Finance In Victorian Fiction/ Nancy Henry -- 9. Rumor, Shares, And Novelistic Form: Joseph Conrad's Nostromo / Cannon Schmitt -- Afterword / Martin Daunton. Edited By Nancy Henry & Cannon Schmitt. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [221]-240) And Index.