Managing the 17th Century Household

Looking for ways to live providently during tough economic times? Take the advice of this collection of six tracts printed in London in 1657 entitled, “A Way to Get Wealth.” Subtitled “six Principall Vocations, or Callings, in which every good Husband or Huswife, may lawfully employ themselves,” the tracts give advice on planting your own crops and raising your own animals, from cows and horses to goats and rabbits. It even provides directions for building your own fishponds and orchards. Besides improving land to raise plants and farm animals for income, the tracts instruct “Husbands”  how to raise hunting dogs and fighting cocks, and “Housewives” are given a variety of home remedies for illness and recipes for the table, as well as information on cloth-making, brewing, and making flour, butter, and cheese.