Introduction
Property, Possession and the Importance of Loss
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2026
Summary
The introduction outlines the historical problem central to this book. Namely, the question of what it meant to possess. The question loomed large in the eighteenth century because more people owned more things (particularly moveable property), the social function of movable property was shifting and in the commercial age, the law was often uncertain as to what could be owned and how. The introduction shows how the book seeks to explore the problem of what it meant to possess by examining how people responded to the loss of possessions.
Information
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- Keeping HoldA Cultural and Social History of Possession in Eighteenth-Century Britain, pp. 1 - 26Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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