Welcome

We’re a research team investigating the importance of intoxicants and intoxication to the economic, social, political, material, and cultural life of England between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Applying a multifaceted methodology to a wide range of sources – from port books and court depositions to cheap print and museum collections – we’re working on books and articles, events and exhibitions, and a free online database of alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, and opium across the early modern period. A collaboration between the Department of History and HRI Digital at the University of Sheffield and the Victoria and Albert Museum, we are generously funded by the ESRC and the AHRC from October 2013 to April 2017.