The Exeter Cloth Dispatch Book, 1763-1765

This book reproduces a newly discovered manuscript detailing the exports of Claude Passavant, a Swiss émigré merchant. Passavant’s dispatch book comprises the most extensive surviving collection of Devon cloth with 2,475 surviving cloth samples died in many colors and including many weaves. Thirteen chapters discuss the local and wider contexts of 18th century cloth making. This study explores the quality, range, and vibrancy of cloth that lead to Exeter becoming an internationally renowned center for the manufacture and trade of woolen cloth.