Abstract

Exchanges have always had more than economic significance: values circulate and encounters become institutionalized. This volume explores the changing meaning of the circulation of second-hand goods from the Renaissance to today, and thereby examines the blurring of boundaries between market, gifts, and charity. It describes the actors of the market - official entities such as corporations, recognized professions, and established markets but also the subterranean circulation that develops around the need for money. The complex layers that not only provide for numerous intermediaries but also include the many men and women who, as sellers or buyers, use these circulations on countless occasions are also examined.

Laurence Fontaine studied History and Sociology at Paris-Sorbonne University and was appointed by the C.N.R.S. in 1989. She was Professor in the History Department of the European University Institute, Florence, Italy from 1995 until 2003 and is currently Directrice de Recherche in the C.N.R.S., attached to the EHESS in Paris.

“[This volume] gathers a rich collection of rigorous essays based on case studies. The topics selected exemplify the recent trends in social history, which reveal new areas for research.”  ·  Sixteenth Century Journal

“…this volume offers an array of insights into the multifaceted means employed to construct material advantage…and into a creative management that took many forms and varied across time.”  ·  Journal of Social History