The Manufacturers

The Manufacturers is a novel written by Maria Edgeworth, first published in 1803. The story revolves around a family of wealthy manufacturers, the Birch family, and their interactions with other members of society. The patriarch of the family, Mr. Birch, is a shrewd businessman who is determined to maintain his family's status and wealth. His wife, Mrs. Birch, is a social climber who is obsessed with gaining the approval of the upper classes. The couple has three children, who are all caught up in their own struggles with love, money, and social status. The novel explores themes of class, gender, and morality, as well as the changing landscape of England's industrial revolution. Edgeworth's writing style is witty and satirical, and she uses her characters to comment on the societal issues of her time. The Manufacturers is considered one of Edgeworth's most important works and a significant contribution to the genre of the novel.He was sensible that he hazarded the loss of his uncle's favour by the avowal of his prejudices; yet such was his habitual conceit, that he could not suppress frequent expressions of contempt for Mr. Darford's liberal notions. Whenever his uncle's opinion differed from his own, he settled the argument, as he fancied, by saying to himself or to his clerk, ""My uncle Darford knows nothing of the world: how should he, poor man! shut up as he has been all his life in a counting-house?""This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.