ABSTRACT
Cultural historians of the eighteenth century have claimed an unprecedented importance for material and print culture in this period, when increased consumption of material goods was accompanied by an expanded role for printed texts in shaping attitudes towards consumption. The documented material and print culture of Betty Bowes provides an opportunity to test the assumptions about the role of material and print culture in eighteenth-century life, and to examine the relationship of one individual in North-East England to wider cultural practices. Given the prominence of marriage in contemporary associations with the Bowes family, it seems appropriate to dwell on the theme of female marriage fortunes contained among the texts in the list. North-East England provided the locational context to Betty's life; predominantly resident in Durham and at Gibside, with occasional visits to York and Scarborough, Betty only participated to a minimal degree in the national social scene, at London and Bath.
