"The sublime of the bazaar": a moment in the making of a consumer culture in mid-nineteenth century England. From: Journal of Social History | Date: December 22, 2006| Author: Gurney, Peter J. | COPYRIGHT 2006 Journal of Social History. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Early in 1844 Richard Cobden, accompanied by Robert Moore and Peronnet Thompson, visited Harriet Martineau on her sick bed at Tynemouth. Cobden's intention was to persuade Martineau to use her considerable propagandist powers to further the cause of the Anti-Corn Law League, the motivating centre of the campaign against economic protectionism. He proved persuasive and the first result was Dawn Island, a typically moralistic, far-fetched fiction that described how free trade had civ...