Animal products were used extensively in nineteenth-century Britain. A middle-class Victorian woman might wear a dress made of alpaca wool, drape herself in a sealskin jacket, brush her hair with a tortoiseshell comb, and sport feathers in her hat. She might entertain her friends by playing a piano with ivory keys or own a parrot or monkey as a living fashion accessory. In this innovative study, Helen Cowie examines the role of these animal-based commodities in Britain in the long nineteenth century and traces their rise and fall in popularity in response to changing tastes, availability, and ethical concerns. Focusing on six popular animal products - feathers, sealskin, ivory, alpaca wool, perfumes, and exotic pets - she considers how animal commodities were sourced and processed, how they were marketed and how they were consumed. She also assesses the ecological impact of nineteenth-century fashion.

Author: Helen Louise Cowie
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 01/27/2022
Series: Science in History
Pages: 300
Weight: 1.2lbs
Size: 9.20h x 8.40w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9781108495172

About the Author
Cowie, Helen Louise: - Helen Cowie is Professor of History at the University of York, where she researches the history of animals and the history of science. She is author of Conquering Nature in Spain and its Empire, 1750-1850 (2011), Exhibiting Animals in Nineteenth-Century Britain: Empathy, Education, Entertainment (2014) and Llama (2017).