First published in 1986.

The first edition of this work was in 1971. In the intervening years a number of books and articles have appeared which deal directly, or indirectly, with the subject of poverty in the early modern period, and the bibliography, in consequence, has been almost doubled.

Some additional material (numbered from 78 onwards) and changes in emphasis have been incorporated into the text, and the Norwich material, in particular, has been revised and extended in the light of the author’s own more recent research.