Description
Book SynopsisThe Wider Goldsmiths' Trade in Elizabethan and Stuart London is the first book to study all aspects of the Goldsmiths' trade. It challenges the assumption that the manufacture of silver plate and gold jewellery was the trade''s only activity during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It considers associated activities such as refining, wiredrawing, and the making of small-swords and watches, as well as the development of the modern banking system.On Elizabeth I's accession, England was essentially a third world economy', with exports mainly of wool, unfinished woolen cloth and some minerals, whilst imports consisted of a great range of goods including luxuries such as silks, fine linens, and even scissors. By the end of the seventeenth century, the situation was transformed: a burgeoning maritime trade with many parts of the world enabled the import of raw materials as well as some luxury goods and a wide range of exports which included certain goods produced in London with an int
