James Gillray, John Bull ground down, London, 1795 (Courtesy of the Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University)
This special journal issue will consider competing understandings of money in the eighteenth-century. What was money? What made money real? What was the relationship between money and national identity? The eighteenth-century debated these topics using all available media. The great stock market crashes that shocked Paris and London in the 1720s created new forms of uncertainty regarding the very nature of commercial exchange and the remainder of the eighteenth century was marked by endless debates regarding laws of supply and demand. This special issue invites paper submissions not only on economic history but also on more poetic and emotionally charged descriptions of money and the hopes and fears that money provokes. Any paper that addresses exchange value in the long eighteenth century will be considered.
The deadline for submissions is 31 January 2026.
