
Richard Whitford's Work for Householders
Liverpool University Press
Will be published approx. on 28. July 2026
Book
Hardback
160 pages
978-1-80596-736-1 (ISBN)
Description
Richard Whitford's A Work for Householders was a runaway 'bestseller' in the early sixteenth-century. First published in 1530, it was the earliest printed English book to direct itself specifically to a middling sort of lay reader: 'householders...or them that have the guiding or governance of any company'. It was published at least seven times in ten years, attracting readers by offering both spiritual guidance to the layman busily engaged with the world, and succinct practical advice on how to run a thrifty and harmonious household. It drew on the medieval tradition of the mixed life, offering sustenance to the (somewhat) spiritually ambitious layman, and in doing so sought to shore up the faith of those who might be drawn away from traditional belief by the emerging evangelical emphasis on the ordinary Christian's importance. The text is thus an important work for understanding both lay spirituality and domestic life on the cusp of the Reformation. This edition makes this influential work available for the first time to modern readers in a readable format with extensive notes and preliminary chapters that situate the work in relation to contemporary pragmatic and religious works.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Liverpool
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Illustrations
3 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 239 mm
Width: 163 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-80596-736-1 (9781805967361)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Alexander da Costa is Professor of Medieval Literature and Early Printed Books at the University of Cambridge. His work includes Marketing English Books (Oxford University Press 2020), and Reforming Printing (Oxford University Press 2012). Hannah Lucas is the Newby Trust Research Fellow at Newnham College, Cambridge. She works at the intersection of medieval literature, philosophy, and theology, and is the author of Impossible Recovery: Julian of Norwich and the Phenomenology of Well-Being (Columbia University Press 2025).
Author
Professor of Medieval Literature and Early PrintUniversity of Cambridge
Newby Trust Research FellowUniversity of Cambridge
Content
Introduction
I. Syon Abbey and Richard Whitford
Syon Abbey's Printed Books
Richard Whitford
Early Editions of A Work for Householders
The Addition of the Policy
A Work for Householders in Compilation
Early Readers
II. Household Spirituality
The Householder
Educating the Laity
Domestic Devotion
The Mixed Life
Reformation Appeal
III. The Household and Household Works
Other Works for Householders
The Housewife
Children
Servants
Household Works after the 1530s
Editorial Policy
I. Syon Abbey and Richard Whitford
Syon Abbey's Printed Books
Richard Whitford
Early Editions of A Work for Householders
The Addition of the Policy
A Work for Householders in Compilation
Early Readers
II. Household Spirituality
The Householder
Educating the Laity
Domestic Devotion
The Mixed Life
Reformation Appeal
III. The Household and Household Works
Other Works for Householders
The Housewife
Children
Servants
Household Works after the 1530s
Editorial Policy