Historians have placed the Birmingham manufacturing firm of Boulton & Watt at the center of Britain's Industrial Revolution, in large part due to its work in developing and selling steam engines based on James Watt's improvements to the device. The survival of a huge quantity of archival material from the firm, now consolidated in the Birmingham Archives, has also created many fertile fields of inquiry. Over the last years, a number of major new publications based on these archives have appeared, including Peter Jones's Industrial Enlightenment: Science, Technology and Culture in Birmingham and the West Midlands, 1760–1820 (2009), David Miller's James Watt, Chemist: Understanding the Origins of the Steam Age (2009), and Richard Hills's biography of James Watt (2002–2006). Of the firm's two partners, Matthew Boulton, the partner largely responsible for the marketing and business side, has received somewhat less attention. Boulton's reputation was eclipsed after the 1830s as Watt's prestige grew, helped by the efforts of Watt's son to aggrandize the elder Watt's stature. To mark the two-hundredth anniversary of Boulton's death, in 1809, a number of events were organized to commemorate his life and to shed light on the less studied of the two partners. Among these were an exhibition at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, as well as a conference at the University of Birmingham. The exhibition produced Matthew Boulton: Selling What All the World Desires (2009), while the conference proceedings have been worked into the current volume.

The essays cover a variety of subjects. Given Boulton's broad range of activities, some of these are of greater interest to business historians than others. One set looks at Boulton as a creative figure, beginning with Peter Jones's essay on Boulton's relationship to the Enlightenment in his home context of Birmingham. The son of a Birmingham merchant, Boulton self-consciously embraced Enlightenment values as he understood them, relying on the Soho Manufactory and his domicile, Soho House, to live out these values of open knowledge and progress through science. The real Birmingham was quite different, however. Polluted, rapidly growing, with inadequate roads, its contrast to Boulton's enlightened desires prodded him to create an alternate world. He was welcoming of visitors from many countries. He helped found the Lunar Society for the discussion of scientific and industrial matters. With time, Boulton became disillusioned as Birmingham remained indifferent to his worldview, at one point even descending into rioting against religious dissenters. Nor did his fellow manufacturers share his enthusiasm. Jennifer Tann explores how Boulton's creativity manifested itself in his businesses. He was a risk taker, for example, exporting to France during the revolution and making paper balloons. This was also evident in his technical designs—he tried to improve his products, from belt buckles to steam engines—as well as in his business dealings, such as when he tried to cross-sell his many different wares across his distribution networks. Boulton also sought to raise product quality by bringing in-house the manufacturing of ever more steam engine parts. Finally, he improved the sites of production, in designing the Albion Mill, Soho Mint, and Soho Manufactory. David Miller examines the question of whether Boulton was a scientist given the prominence in his life of the industrial and the practical. The answer depends on how scientist is defined, which has shifted over the decades. Miller claims that seeking to define a scientist as someone interested in pure theory would impose a category on the time when it did not exist. Boulton was very interested in theory and the arts, inhabiting a space between the abstract and the entrepreneurial. For example, he was interested in science for marketing his work, but less so with winning recognition for theoretical work.

Another set of essays are specific case studies of technologies or ventures, revealing the breadth of Boulton's business activities and creativity. George Demidowicz details the origins and construction of the Soho Manufactory, including relevant business partnerships. He shows how its use shifted repeatedly over the years between different products, layouts, and even power sources. Jim Andrew explains why the Boulton & Watt steam engine was such an improvement over earlier versions. Contrary to the popular perception that the efficiency gains of Watt's engine lay with avoiding the repeated heating and cooling of the main piston cylinder, Andrew points out that the temperature in the main cylinder did not actually vary much over a single cycle. Instead, gains stemmed from the lower condensation temperatures the separate condenser allowed, increasing the engine's thermodynamic efficiency. Another essay shows how Boulton got into minting copper coins and tokens after 1797, a very new field for his companies. He produced millions of coins over the years, at greater than 98 percent purity. Barbara Fogarty recounts Boulton's forays into the mechanical printing of oil paintings. Although the venture was never profitable, it showed Boulton's desire to find inexpensive ways to produce existing high-cost product.

A final set of articles looks at Boulton's interactions with various groups. Two essays show how Boulton negotiated to have Parliament establish an Assay Office in Birmingham. Selling silver required an official Assay Office certification and hallmark, but the nearest one to Birmingham was seventy-two miles away in Chester. Boulton worried about damage to his silver goods and the theft of designs during their transport to the office. As he increased his production, Boulton successfully lobbied Parliament in 1773 to set up a Birmingham office, despite resistance from London goldsmiths keen to maintain an edge. Another two essays look at management and workers at Soho. Many of the workers at Soho were technically proficient and involved with design, notably William Murdoch. The firm generally used internal contracting to manage its workers, with a team under a foreman given a set sum for work performed. Boulton was, however, keen to control his products by bringing more production in-house, especially after piracy by one of his contractors. Finally, two essays look at relations with outside groups. The first focuses on Jewish merchants in France, who helped Boulton through their strong community ties. The second shows the risks of welcoming visitors to the Boulton & Watt site, such as when Augustin Betancourt copied details of steam engines on one of his trips from France.