Reading Group - A Life Scribbled in the Margins: The World of Joseph Bufton of Coggeshall, 1650-1718, Brodie Waddell, Lecturer in Early Modern History at Birkbeck
When:
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Venue:
TBC
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Joseph Bufton was an inconsequential tradesman who lived a rather ordinary life in later Stuart Essex. However, unlike almost all of his contemporaries, he left a substantial collection of writings to posterity, comprising eleven volumes of notes, memorandum, extracts and even some poetry. He used the blank pages and margins of printed almanacs to chronicle his family, his trade, his community, his religion and his nation. Dr. Brodie Waddell introduced Bufton and showed why we should care about this obscure individual. What is the value of such a microhistory?
Dr. Waddell researches early modern English history, focusing on social relations, economic life and popular culture. His book is entitled God, Duty and Community in English Economic Life, 1660-1720 (Boydell, 2012), and his most recent article is ‘The Politics of Economic Distress in the Aftermath of the Glorious Revolution, 1689-1702’, English Historical Review (April 2015).
Contact name:
Ann Lewis