Selling Ancestry: Family Directories and the Commodification of Genealogy in Eighteenth Century Britain...

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Dr Stéphane Jettot (Associate Professor, Associate Professor, Sorbonne Université)

Selling Ancestry

Family Directories and the Commodification of Genealogy in Eighteenth Century Britain

Dr Stéphane Jettot (Associate Professor, Associate Professor, Sorbonne Université)

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English

Oxford University Press
30 November 2023

British & Irish history; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900; Social & cultural history; Genealogy, heraldry, names & honours

Often cited but rarely studied in their own right, family directories allow a reconsideration of how ancestry and genealogy became an object of widespread commercialization across the eighteenth century. These directories replaced the expensive, locally-produced, early modern artefacts (tombs, windowpanes, illuminated pedigrees), and began to reach a wide audience of readers in the British Isles and the colonies. From the first Peerage in 1709 to the guidebooks of Debrett's and Burke's in the 1830s, Stéphane Jettot offers an insight into the cumulative process leading to the creation of these hybrid products -- a combination of court almanacs, county histories, and town directories. Employed by contemporaries as reference tools to navigate through a dynamic and changing society, they could be used as a means to probe contemporary attitudes towards social status and political events. Published by the most prominent London booksellers who shared their copyrights among themselves, they relied on the considerable involvement of thousands of families in the counties.

In their correspondence with publishers, many new and old elites desired to insert their own narrative into a general history of Britain by dispatching documents, quotations, and anecdotes. Based on a unique source-base, this book provides a systematic review of these directories, their production, and sale, but also their potential role in shaping the character of social change. Jettot demonstrates the wider ramifications of genealogy and its structural ability to reinvent itself, associate amateurs and antiquarians alike, and thrive on the wavering lines between facts and fiction, offering an exciting and unique insight into the social history of eighteenth-century Britain.

By: Dr Stéphane Jettot (Associate Professor Associate Professor Sorbonne Université)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 242mm, Width: 160mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 1g
ISBN: 9780192865960
ISBN 10: 019286596X
Pages: 416
Publication Date: 30 November 2023
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction PART I: A WIDE RANGE OF DIRECTORIES AND THEIR READERS 1: A Format for Every Use 2: The Many Ways of Reading and Selling PART II: THE PUBLISHERS AND THEIR CUSTOMERS 3: Hundreds of Customers: Looking for Some Common Patterns 4: Family Ties and the Publishers' Enquiries PART III: COMPILERS AND THE MAKING OF CREDIBLE NARRATIVES 5: The Protagonists of a 'Shoddy Industry' 6: The Keys to a Rewarding Posterity Conclusion Appendices

Stéphane Jettot is Associate Professor at Sorbonne University. His interests lie in social and family history from 1660 to 1830, offering a comparative perspective between Britain and the continent. His previous publications include a comparative study of genealogical practices in early-modern Europe, and on the relations between ancestry and enlightenment.