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The Romance of Gambling in the Eighteenth-Century British Novel“Putting to Hazard a Certainty”: Lotteries and the Romance of Gambling in Eighteenth-Century England

The Romance of Gambling in the Eighteenth-Century British Novel: “Putting to Hazard a Certainty”:... [In London, on January 6, 1662 (n.s.) Charles II opened the first Epiphany revels of the Restoration, celebrating the final night of an especially festive Christmas season “by throwing the Dice himselfe, in the Privy Chamber, where a table was set on purpose, & lost his 100 pounds” (Evelyn 3.308).1 The king’s throne was secure, the Cavalier Parliament was seated, and the serious gambling could begin: “The Ladys also plaied very deepe,” diarist John Evelyn recorded, “I came away when the Duke of Ormond had won about 1000 pounds & left them still at passage, Cards, &c: at other Tables, both there and at the Groome-porters” (Evelyn 3.308). This gambling scene represents a significant nexus in economic history, where archaic symbolic expenditure meets and indeed inspires modern capitalism, for, as I shall discuss in this chapter, the same Groom-Porter who was responsible for overseeing the gambling at the royal residences also introduced the lottery loans that initiated the national debt and thus modern finance capitalism.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

The Romance of Gambling in the Eighteenth-Century British Novel“Putting to Hazard a Certainty”: Lotteries and the Romance of Gambling in Eighteenth-Century England

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Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan UK
Copyright
© Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011
ISBN
978-1-349-32662-4
Pages
18 –44
DOI
10.1057/9780230307278_2
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[In London, on January 6, 1662 (n.s.) Charles II opened the first Epiphany revels of the Restoration, celebrating the final night of an especially festive Christmas season “by throwing the Dice himselfe, in the Privy Chamber, where a table was set on purpose, & lost his 100 pounds” (Evelyn 3.308).1 The king’s throne was secure, the Cavalier Parliament was seated, and the serious gambling could begin: “The Ladys also plaied very deepe,” diarist John Evelyn recorded, “I came away when the Duke of Ormond had won about 1000 pounds & left them still at passage, Cards, &c: at other Tables, both there and at the Groome-porters” (Evelyn 3.308). This gambling scene represents a significant nexus in economic history, where archaic symbolic expenditure meets and indeed inspires modern capitalism, for, as I shall discuss in this chapter, the same Groom-Porter who was responsible for overseeing the gambling at the royal residences also introduced the lottery loans that initiated the national debt and thus modern finance capitalism.]

Published: Oct 28, 2015

Keywords: Eighteenth Century; Lottery Ticket; Productive Expenditure; Option Contract; Private Credit

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