Salework

1655, Richard Sibbes, A Learned Commentary or Exposition upon the First Chapter of the Second Epistle of S. Paul to the Corinthians, London: Thomas Manton, Commentary on verse 1, p. 9, An hypocrite never cares for that, all his care is for the outward parts, he is sale-work; so his carriage be acceptable to others, all his care is taken, he lives to the view, therefore he looks not to the substance, and the truth, but to the shadow and appearance.

I see no more in you than in the ordinary Of nature’s sale-work.

Our Poet therefore Sale-work Habits makes, But of particular Men no Measure takes.

Shops may be roughly divided into four kinds: those of craftsmen who did bespoke work, that is, custom work to order; these are the subject of the chapter following this one. Those of retailers who simply bought and sold, those of artisans who offered “salework” on a take-it-or-leave-it basis, and those of specialists who performed some direct personal service for the public are dealt with in the present chapter.