An American Quaker in the British Isles: The Travel Journals of Jabez Maud Fisher, 1775-1779(16 Records of Social and Economic History)

In 1775, a young Philadelphia Quaker was sent by his father to gather detailed information on business conditions in the British Isles. Fisher's travels took him throughout Britain and Ireland, even across the English Channel, and the journals that record his observations provide a fascinating and distinctive commentary on the economic and social life of the time. The travel journals are supplemented by Fisher's cameos of merchants in the major trading centres, with lists of all the goods handled. Dr Morgan's edition makes available a text that adds up to a late eighteenth-century version of Defoe's famous Tour.

Review :
`these journals, which have been superbly edited by Kenneth Morgan, stand comparison with such famous travel books as those of Celia Fiennes and Daniel Defoe.' PE, Times Literary Supplement 'This volume will join that core of published travelogues which form such a valuable quarry for contemporary impressions of topography and economic conditions. Kenneth Morgan's careful edition, which is prefaced by a perceptive and helpful introduction, is a welcome addition to the travel journals available in print.' Angus J.L. Winchester, Lancaster University, Social History Society Newsletter, Autumn 1992 'the journal presents a vivid commentary on the economic and social environment within the British Isles at the onset of industrialisation ... Economic historians will find the journal entries regarding Fisher's business contacts highly significant ... Dr Morgan has researched the joural meticulously and has provided detailed footnotes. Such annotation makes the journals invaluable to scholars of eighteenth-century business economic and social history.' Ann Prior, Lancaster University, Business History, April '93 'the journal presents a vivid commentary on the economic and social environment within the British Isles at the onset of industrialisation ... Economic historians will find the journal entries regarding Fisher's business contacts highly significant. Dr Morgan has researched the journal meticulously and has provided detailed footnotes. Such annotation makes the journals invaluable to scholars of eighteenth-century business economic and social history.' Ann Prior, Lancaster University, Business History, Vol. 35, No. 2, April 1993 'This beautifully edited book is a reminder of the untapped seam of Irish-interest material buried in American Repositories, and which would certainly repay careful attention.' Kevin Whelan, Linen Hall Review, Summer 1993 'Kenneth Morgan's handsome and scholarly edition of Jabez Fisher's journals ... falls within an important tradition ... This edition will be a great boon to economic historians, while it offers much of value to those interested in eighteenth-century Britain: Fisher was observant, travelled widely and, thanks to his Quaker contacts, had access to much information.' Jeremy Black, University of Durham, Albion, Summer '93, Vol. 25, No. 2