Running a glasshouse in the 18th and 19th centuries carried considerable financial risk, and the borderline between solvency and bankruptcy was narrow. Regrettably, evidence as to how the owners of such businesses conducted their affairs is rare. Fortunately, there exist papers relating to the Phoenix glasshouse, Bristol, (1789-1851) which give an interesting and illuminating picture of the fluctuations in trade, during which the partners experienced both the sweet joys of success and the bitterness of failure. -- AATA