End of term report, June 2013
My last report was the annual review report which I discussed with Giorgio Riello. This year I
am working 80% on the Warwick project and 20% on my Stockholm project.
Recent activities
Writing work in progress
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”Chests, Tubs, and Lots of Tea: The European Market for Chinese Tea and the Swedish
East India Company, c. 1730-1760”, chapter for Goods from the East
“A Taste for Tea”, introduction of tea section for Goods from the East
“Buying Bohea in Canton - selling “Swedish black” in Europe”, chapter on tea for Silk and
Tea in the North – Scandinavian Trade and the Market for Asian Goods in Eighteenth
Century Europe
“Metropolitan and Colonial Natural History: Swedish Naturalists in London”, chapter for
Works of Nature: Global Scientific Practice during the Age of Revolutions, eds. Dan Rodd
and Pat Manning, Pittsburgh University Press.
Review of Maria Nyman Resandets gränser. Svenska resenärers skildringar av Ryssland
under 1700-talet (Lund/Stockholm: Studia Historica Lundensia/Södertörn Doctoral
Dissertations).
Conferences & workshops I have attended since March
Since my last report I have given papers at the following events:
 15-16 of April, Workshop on early modern collection building, Copenhagen
 3-4 of May, Political Economy and Empire, Yale
 5 of May, The Companies: Continuity, Transition or Disjuncture? Yale
 24 of May, Friendship, Queen Mary, London
I have also attended two workshops:
 10 of May 2013, Workshop Global Knowledge, Oxford
 9 of May 2013, Workshop Empires of Knowledge, Oxford
Archive visits since March
Since my last report I have visited two archives:
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17-19 of April, Rigsarkivet, Copenhagen
10-12 of April, Public Record Office, London
Teaching since March
Since my last report I have taught the bulk of my share in World of Consumption, and one
lecture for the Galleons and Caravans course. I have also attended workshops and meetings
relating to my PCAPP qualification. I am currently writing a paper (the first of two) on Open
Space Learning drawing on a seminar I taught for the World of Consumption course (which
included role play in one of the studios at Warwick)
Other things
 I have applied for two lectureships, on in Gothenburg and one in Uppsala.
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I have been the external examiner for a PhD thesis at Södertörns University, Stockholm
(Maria Nyman, Resandets gränser. Svenska resenärers skildringar av Ryssland under
1700-talet)
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Had contact with a linguistic project in Stockholm (Susanne Vejdemo) who is working
on colours. Met Rikke Søndergaard Kristensen on my latest visit to Copenhagen.
Forthcoming activities
Presentation of research
I am lined up to give paper at the following conference, workshop and seminar:
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25 July 2013: "Tea, consumption and natural history in the 18th century", Session:
Europe encounters Chinese nature and natural knowledge in the long eighteenth
century, 24th International Congress of History of Science, Technology and Medicine",
European encounters Chinese nature and natural knowledge in the long eighteenth
century”, ICHSTM Manchester
September 5-7, 2013: “Knowledge Generation, Education and Careers – the Role of
Travelling in Linnaean Natural History Travel, Agency, and the Circulation of
Knowledge” at the 7th Symposium of the Graduate School "Cultural Encounters and the
Discourses of Scholarship" (Rostock, Germany), Invitation by Gesa Mackenthun.
I have also been invited to give a paper at the 18th century seminar in Uppsala by MarieChristine Skuncke, to talk on natural history in 18th century London forthcoming
autumn.
I am involved in planning the following conference, workshop and seminar activities:
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20-24 of January 2014, Deidre Coleman’s visit to Warwick as a IAS fellow
28-30 of March 2014, Economic History Conference in Warwick, session on silk with
Ben March
8-10 May 2014, Historikermötet, Stockholm, will put forward panel proposal on Asian
Material Culture in Scandinavia together with Leos and Jacqueline Van Gent
May/June 2014, Workshop on the Scandinavian East India Company, together with Leos,
Jacqueline Van Gent and Ulf Anderson.
May/June 2014, Workshop in Florence, follow up from last year, with Stephane Van
Damme and Kenneth Nyberg
Forthcoming archive visits
I still would like to find some more correspondence which can illuminate the re-export of
Chinese goods from Copenhagen and Gothenburg focusing particularly on aspects to do with
quality and consumer demands. My plans are however pending on what I can find once I have
established a list of the most active merchants buying different Chinese goods, at the
Gothenburg and Copenhagen company sales. Once I have such lists I can do a more thorough
search for correspondence in archives. I envision maybe two further shorter archive trips over
the next year.
Forthcoming teaching
Work is progressing with my PCAPP degree. Next year I will be teaching one seminar for the “A
World of Things: The material culture of global connections, 1500-1800” (on flora, fauna and
medicine). I assume I will also give my lectures for “The Enlightenment”, “Galleons and
Caravans”, and “Consumption and Culture in the 18th century” (if it attracts enough students).