The Power of Persuasion: Becoming a Merchant in the Eighteenth Century - Paperback

by Lucas Haasis (Author)

Lucas Haasis found a time capsule: A complete mercantile letter archive of the merchant Nicolaus Gottlieb Luetkens who lived in 18th century Hamburg. Luetkens travelled France between 1743-1745 in order to become a successful wholesale merchant. He succeeded in this undertaking via both shrewd business practice and proficient skills in the practice of letter writing. Based on this unique discovery, Lucas Haasis examines in this microhistorical study the crucial steps and activities of a mercantile establishment phase, the typical letter practices of early modern merchants, and the practical principles of persuasion leading to success in the 18th century.

Author Biography

Lucas Haasis, born in 1985, is a postdoctoral researcher and the research coordinator of the UK-German Prize Papers Project. He is also a lecturer of Early Modern History at the Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Germany. His research focusses on 18th-century letter-writing practices, mercantile culture of the 18th century, materiality studies, and praxeological approaches in historiography and global microhistory.