Cottage Economy
CONTAINING In relative to the brewing of BEER, making of BREAD, keeping of COWS, PIGS, BEES, EWES, GOATS, POULTRY, and RABBITS, and relative to other matters deemed useful in the conducting of the Affairs of a Labourer's Family; to which are added, Instructions relative to the selecting, the cutting and the bleaching of the Plants of ENGLISH GRASS and GRAIN, for the purpose of making HATS and BONNETS; and also Instructions for erecting and using Ice-Houses after the Virginian manner. BY WILLIAM COBBETT. SIXTEENTH EDITION. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY ANNE COBBETT, 137, STRAND. 1843.
2feps. Title Page, verso with Camden library stamps. 1pp Contents. [1] 5-181. [1] Engraved picture of 'Ice Houses' 1-12 List of Mrs. Cobbett's Books. 2feps. Fully Bound in modern dark brown calf with blind tooled borders. Spine with raised bands, gilt lines and tooling and gilt lettering. Internally very clean with overall slight age browning. Sometime repair to title page with loss of two letters. A scarce copy.
- William Cobbett was born in Farnham, Surrey, on 9 March 1763, the son of a tavern owner. He was taught to read and write by his father, and first worked as a farm labourer. He was an English political pamphleter, farmer and prolific journalist. He thought that the reform of Parliament and the abolition of the rotten boroughs would help cure the poverty of the farm labourers. Cobbett constantly attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters". He opposed the Corn Laws, a tax on imported grain. Through the many apparent inconsistencies in Cobbett's life, one strand continued to run: an ingrained opposition to authority and a suspicion of novelty. Early in his career, he was a "loyalist" supporter of King and Country; later, he joined (and successfully publicised) the radical movement which led to the Reform Bill of 1832 and him winning the parliamentary seat of Oldham. He wrote ten main books of which 'Rural Rides' is perhaps his best known. The first edition of Cottage Economy was published 1816.
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Antiquarian category
ref number:
10929