Cotton in Context

Manufacturing, Marketing, and Consuming Textiles in the German-speaking World (1500 – 1900)

Contributions by Eric Häusler Contributions by Kim Siebenhüner Contributions by Karl Borromäus Murr Contributions by Michaela Breil Contributions by Ernest Menolfi Contributions by Vibe Maria Martens Contributions by Jutta Wimmler Contributions by Eiluned Edwards Contributions by Barbara Karl Contributions by Isa Fleischmann-Heck Contributions by John Styles Contributions by Claudia Ravazzolo Contributions by Aris Kafantogias Contributions by Alexis Schwarzenbach Edited by Kim Siebenhüner Edited by John Jordan Edited by Gabi Schopf

Book cover: Cotton in Context

Extent: 424 pages

Publisher: Böhlau Verlag Köln

Subjects: Book History, Conservation, & Museum Studies, Clothing & Textiles, German Studies

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(September 2019)

ISBN: 9783412515102

6.89 x 9.65 inches

Price: $150.00

In stock

There is a saying that cotton changed the world. Fabrics that for centuries had been imported predominantly from India first revolutionised the European textile industry, then the erstwhile polycentric world order. For some time now, it has positioned the history of textiles at the intersection of global history, the history of material culture and the history of consumption and shopping.


While cotton was a world-changing good in the early modern period, for producers, merchants, and consumers, it was but one of many different fabrics. This volume explores this dichotomy by contextualizing cotton within its contemporary culture of textiles. In doing, it focuses on a long, under-researched region: the German-speaking world, particularly Switzerland, which transformed into one of the most prolific European regions for the production of printed cottons in the eighteenth century. Sixteen contributions investigate the (globally entangled) history of Indiennes, silk, wool, and embroideries, giving new insights into the manufacturing, marketing, and consumption of textiles between 1500 and 1900.

  • Contributions by Eric Häusler
  • Contributions by Kim Siebenhüner
  • Contributions by Karl Borromäus Murr
  • Contributions by Michaela Breil
  • Contributions by Ernest Menolfi
  • Contributions by Vibe Maria Martens
  • Contributions by Jutta Wimmler
  • Contributions by Eiluned Edwards
  • Contributions by Barbara Karl
  • Contributions by Isa Fleischmann-Heck
  • Contributions by John Styles
  • Contributions by Claudia Ravazzolo
  • Contributions by Aris Kafantogias
  • Contributions by Alexis Schwarzenbach
  • Edited by Kim Siebenhüner
  • Edited by John Jordan
  • Edited by Gabi Schopf