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Published by John Adamson  November 2006 320 pp. 30 illustrations in black and white 10 ³/4 × 8 ¹/8 in. (273 × 206 mm) ISBN 10: 0 9524322 5 0 ISBN 13: 978-0-9524322-5-8 Cloth £60.00 US$90.00

Obtainable from any good bookseller or from:	John Adamson: 90 Hertford Street Cambridge CB4 3AQ, UK e-mail: Book orders Book order form
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Summary Inventories of nine great country houses and four London town houses were chosen for this book by the late John Cornforth, the historian. They document the taste and lifestyle of leading grandees and the households that supported them, and record in astonishing detail and with great immediacy the goods and chattels accumulated, inherited, or acquired for everyday use or enjoyment. Compiled swiftly on the spot, room by room, with meticulous care, they were written by professional appraisers, in consultation with family members or their stewards. The language is startlingly modern. One house was equipped with a ‘washing machine’,  another refers to the latrine as ‘the boghouse’. Kitchen utensils with French names reflect the presence of a French chef and the adoption of French cooking methods. For today’s fascination with the history of food and life below stairs, the contents of the kitchen and scullery assume as much interest as the grand rooms of entertainment. The equipment required to service the household, for cleaning, medical treatment, brewing, baking and distilling reflects the community of stewards, housekeepers and cooks that worked there. Above stairs these inventories record the collecting habits of leading eighteenth-century patrons and provide an opportunity to compare the arrangements of the interiors of the great town and country houses of the same noble families in different generations. A general introduction and short essays on each group of inventories set the households in their historical context. Illustrated with contemporary engravings of the houses and with portraits of the owners of the time, the inventories will appeal to country-house visitors, historians of interiors, patronage and collecting as well as to scholars, curators, collectors, creative designers, film directors, lexicographers and novelists. John Cornforth’s hope was that this publication would revitalise the study of the great house in the eighteenth century. As we leaf through this book on a journey of discovery it is as if he is still present, at our elbow. Sponsored by the Marc Fitch Fund ‘... excellent publication ... As a tribute to the eminent John Cornforth, it could not be a more appropriate commemoration of his achievements during 40 years of studying English houses, both as houses and as temples to the muses of artistic creation’.  Charles Cator, Country Life ‘John Adamson in Cambridge has produced and printed a handsome volume ... The index demonstrates the value of inventories for an understanding of the furnished interior’.  John Harris, The Art Newspaper ‘This is a fascinating book, and not just for the specialist in English eighteenth-century houses. It is a compelling work for the curious ... [It is] a well-produced book which reflects the passion and knowledge of John Cornforth. It is to be hoped that more inventories will now be published as they are the bedrock of the understanding of the taste of a particular period’.  James Miller, The Times Literary Supplement ‘[A] well-laid out, thoughtfully edited and carefully illustrated volume ... a fitting tribute to [John Cornforth] ... With this selection of inventories ... Cornforth hoped to inspire another generation of scholars to take his work forward into the 21st century’.  Susan Jenkins, Apollo ‘This book is an important step in the wider recognition of archival studies in relation to the social and cultural history of England ... Murdoch provides succinct and helpful editorial and summary introductions for each inventory (with one provided for Drayton House by Bruce Bailey) ... The index is also invaluable and provides the key to comparing the houses’.  Andrew Moore, The Burlington Magazine ‘A wealth of primary reference material is provided and it is fair to assume that the success of this volume will be measured most of all in the trajectory that it will certainly trace through future publications.’                     James Ayres, The Georgian