The invention of comfort
Subtitle: sensibilities & design in early modern Britain & early America
By: John E. Crowley
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Baltimore, Md
Language: eng
Number of pages: 361
Subjects: Households -- United States -- History; Households -- Great Britain -- History; House furnishings -- United States -- History; House furnishings -- Great Britain -- History; United States -- Social life and customs; Great Britain -- Social life and customs
Description: "How did our modern ideas of physical comfort originate? As John E. Crowley demonstrates in The Invention of Comfort, changes in the technology of comfort depended on a fashion-conscious public's being made to feel discomfort with surroundings that they had previously perceived as functionally adequate.".

"Written in an engaging style that will appeal to historians and material culture specialists as well as to general readers, this work brings together such disparate topics of analysis as climate, fire, food, clothing, the senses, and anxiety - especially about the night.

Crowley highlights his arguments with excerpts from historical documents - diaries, travel accounts, politeness manuals, and personal letters - and includes analysis of architectural plans and domestic art (reproduced in the book's many illustrations)."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: "Notes": p. 293-347

Includes bibliographical references and index
Table of contents: title: Commodious comfort : hall and hearth, chamber and chimney; title: Civil comfort : mansion houses; title: Colonial comfort : vernacular and elegant options; title: Decent comfort : candles and mirrors; title: Convenient comfort : political economy; title: Enlightened comfort : stoves and lamps; title: Picturesque comfort : the cottage; title: Healthy comfort : the piazza; title: Gendered comfort : house design books