The Factory System: Vol I Birth and Growth

The purpose of this book is to trace the rise of the factory system in Britain during the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, as it was seen by contemporaries or early industrial historians. It consists of generally substantial extracts from the classic accounts and from some less celebrated publications, together with brief commentaries and detailed bibliographic notes. Divided into three sections, the book deals with early textile organisation, the Industrial Revolution in textiles and the development of factory-based industry. It has been prepared for the student who has neither the time nor the opportunity to examine a wide range of older works.

Contents: PART ONE: BEFORE THE FACTORY SYSTEM. A). The Norwich Worsted Industry: 1. Arthur Young. 'The Farmer's Tour through the East of England', 1771. 2. Sir F. M. Eden. 'The State of the Poor', 1797. B). The Yorkshire Woollen Industry: 3. Daniel Defoe: 'A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain', 1726. 4. John Aikin: 'A Description of the Country from thirty to forty Miles round Manchester', 1795. 5. Edward Baines: 'The Woollen Manufacture in England', 1857. 6. John James 'History of the Worsted Manufacture in England', 1857. C). The Southern Woollen Industries: 7. Arthur Young: 'A Six Weeks Tour Through the Southern Counties', 1768. D). A Mercantile Community: 8. H. R. Fox Bourne: 'English Merchants', 1866. E). The Lancashire Cotton Industry: 9. Edward Baines: 'History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain', 1835; 10. William Radcliffe: 'Origin of the New System of Manufacture', 1828. F). The Hosiery Industry: 11. Andrew Ure: 'The Cotton Manufacture of Great Britain', 1836. 12. William Felkin: 'A History of the Machine-Wrought Hosiery and Lace Manufactures', 1867. G). The Silk Industry: 13. Dionysius Lardner (ed): 'A Treatise on...the Silk Manufacture', 1831. H). The Linen Industry: A. J. Warden: 'The Linen Trade, Ancient and Modern', 1864. I) The Weaver: 15. 'J. C.': 'The Weaver's Pocket Book', 1766, etc