Trade had been a vital concern for Defoe throughout his career, but it was in the mid 1720s that it became almost a compulsive obsession in his work. A series of books focus on a variety of related topics, with repeated stress on the major role which commerce plays in national life. In several cases the author holds out a promise of added wealth that Britain could gain by way of exploration and colonial expansion. This is the burden of some shorter pamphlets, but the theme is most insistently present in his books such as
A Tour thro’ the Whole Island of Great Britain(1724–26);
A New Voyage round the World(1725);
The Complete English Tradesman(1726–27);
A General History of Discoveries and Improvements(1725–26); and
Atlas Maritimus & Commercialis(1728). Most characteristic of…
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Citation: Rogers, Pat. "A Plan of English Commerce". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 October 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7011, accessed 21 November 2024.]
