Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/318384 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Citation: 
[Journal:] Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte (VSWG) [ISSN:] 2365-2136 [Volume:] 112 [Issue:] 1 [Year:] 2025 [Pages:] 59-96
Publisher: 
Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart
Abstract: 
While several studies have shed light on the emergence of consumer society in Western Europe and the Atlantic world, our knowledge on the spread of new consumption patterns in regions beyond the core areas of European economic development is still limited. To gain insights into patterns of retail trade, distribution chains and consumer behaviour in the Baltic region, this article analyses an account book of a hitherto unknown retail merchant from Courland, written during the 1770s. This account book - the so-called "Mitau Ledger" - is a unique source, as it reveals distribution channels of manufactured goods in the Baltic hinterland from the perspective of a regional trader and offers valuable information on consumer patterns, craft production and fashion trends in 18th-century Courland.
Subjects: 
consumer history
trade history
Baltic Sea region
business history
bookkeeping
JEL: 
N33
N73
N83
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article

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