EUR  â¬128.71EUR  â¬122.00 excl. VAT
Private Enterprise and the China Trade
Merchants and Markets in Europe, 1700-1750
Series: - Library of Economic History, Volume: 16
Author:
The open access publication of this book has been published with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
This book examines the European commercial landscape of the early China trade, c.1700â1750. It looks at the foundational period of Sino-European commerce and explores a world of private enterprise beneath the surface of the official East India Company structures. Using rich private trade records, it analyses the making of pan-European markets, distribution networks and patterns of investment that together reveal a new geography of a trading system previously studied mostly at Canton. By considering the interloping activities of British-born merchants working for the smaller East India Companies, the book uncovers the commercial practices and cross-Company collaborations, both legal and illicit, that sustained the growth of the China trade: smuggling, wholesale trading, private commissions and the manipulation of Company auctions.
This book examines the European commercial landscape of the early China trade, c.1700â1750. It looks at the foundational period of Sino-European commerce and explores a world of private enterprise beneath the surface of the official East India Company structures. Using rich private trade records, it analyses the making of pan-European markets, distribution networks and patterns of investment that together reveal a new geography of a trading system previously studied mostly at Canton. By considering the interloping activities of British-born merchants working for the smaller East India Companies, the book uncovers the commercial practices and cross-Company collaborations, both legal and illicit, that sustained the growth of the China trade: smuggling, wholesale trading, private commissions and the manipulation of Company auctions.
Meike von Brescius, Ph.D., historian of early modern trade and consumption, University of Basel. Combining business and cultural history with material culture approaches, she has published on the East India Companies, private traders, and markets for Asian goods in Europe.
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables
Introduction: Contextualising the Early China Trade in Europe
â1âCommercial Polymaths: Supercargoes and Interlopers in the China Trade
â2âTrading Conditions in Canton
â3âPrivate Trade and Monopoly Structures: A Network Perspective
â4âThe Archives of Private Trade: How to Assess the (In)visible
â5âSource Material
â6âStructure of the Study
1âBritish Interlopers in the Canton Trade A Group Portrait
â1âCharles Irvine: Canton Supercargo, Wholesale Trader, Family Patron
â2âIrvineâs Wider Network
â3âWays into the China Trade
â4âNew Companies and old India Traders: The Demise of the Ostend and the Rise of the Swedish East India Company
â4.1âBritons Abroad, Interlopers at Home: Transnational Careers in the Making
â5âFlexible Citizens: Nomads of the Canton Trade
2âForging Markets The European Re-Export Trade in Chinese Goods
â1âPrivate Trade: Regulations and Realities
â2âThe Companiesâ Profits from Private Trade
â3âPublic Sales, Private Agreements
â4âThe Re-Export Trade
3âTreasures in the Cabin Chinese Export Wares and the Special Commissions Trade
â1âChinese Export Wares and the Market for Private Commissions
â2âTypology of Commissioners in the China Trade
â3âFamilies and Consumers Associated with the East India Companies
â4âCommanders and Supercargoes as Consumers, Suppliers and Entrepreneurs
â5âDesigns Made for Maritime Mobility
â6âMaking Room for Private Trade
4âEuropean Geographies of Private Trade Cadiz as a Cross-Company Hub
â1âPort Cities, Merchant Communities and the Study of Networks
â2âThe Vanguards
â3âFlows of Silver from a Network Perspective
â4âThe Cadiz Merchant Community and the China Trade
â5âCadiz as an entrepôt
â6âCompany Recruitments and Passenger Traffic to China
â7âFinancing the Private Trade
â8âSea Loans and the Cross-Company Money Market
â9âEntangled cities of the China trade: Cadiz, Antwerp and Amsterdam
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
List of Figures and Tables
Introduction: Contextualising the Early China Trade in Europe
â1âCommercial Polymaths: Supercargoes and Interlopers in the China Trade
â2âTrading Conditions in Canton
â3âPrivate Trade and Monopoly Structures: A Network Perspective
â4âThe Archives of Private Trade: How to Assess the (In)visible
â5âSource Material
â6âStructure of the Study
1âBritish Interlopers in the Canton Trade A Group Portrait
â1âCharles Irvine: Canton Supercargo, Wholesale Trader, Family Patron
â2âIrvineâs Wider Network
â3âWays into the China Trade
â4âNew Companies and old India Traders: The Demise of the Ostend and the Rise of the Swedish East India Company
â4.1âBritons Abroad, Interlopers at Home: Transnational Careers in the Making
â5âFlexible Citizens: Nomads of the Canton Trade
2âForging Markets The European Re-Export Trade in Chinese Goods
â1âPrivate Trade: Regulations and Realities
â2âThe Companiesâ Profits from Private Trade
â3âPublic Sales, Private Agreements
â4âThe Re-Export Trade
3âTreasures in the Cabin Chinese Export Wares and the Special Commissions Trade
â1âChinese Export Wares and the Market for Private Commissions
â2âTypology of Commissioners in the China Trade
â3âFamilies and Consumers Associated with the East India Companies
â4âCommanders and Supercargoes as Consumers, Suppliers and Entrepreneurs
â5âDesigns Made for Maritime Mobility
â6âMaking Room for Private Trade
4âEuropean Geographies of Private Trade Cadiz as a Cross-Company Hub
â1âPort Cities, Merchant Communities and the Study of Networks
â2âThe Vanguards
â3âFlows of Silver from a Network Perspective
â4âThe Cadiz Merchant Community and the China Trade
â5âCadiz as an entrepôt
â6âCompany Recruitments and Passenger Traffic to China
â7âFinancing the Private Trade
â8âSea Loans and the Cross-Company Money Market
â9âEntangled cities of the China trade: Cadiz, Antwerp and Amsterdam
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
All interested in the East India Companies, long-distance trade, wholesale markets, merchant networks and practices, interlopers, and China-Europe relations in the early modern period.