For those really into shoes, shoemaking and leather old historic books about the topics are often gold mines of knowledge. It can be tricky to get a hold of old books though. Luckily, there’s some online sources that have ebooks for free, here I highlight some books on shoes and leather found on Project Gutenberg.
As you likely know, the general copyright for example for books stretches to 70 year’s after the author’s death. This means that after this, it’s free for everyone to use the texts in any way one wish. Project Gutenberg is an online library of free eBooks, that has scanned over 75,000 books that doesn’t have any copyright anymore. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented ebooks in 1971, and the site is one of the largest free ebook libraries.
Project Gutenberg has a bunch of old books on shoemaking available.
Since many years back I’ve used Project Gutenberg myself and read partly or fully some of the books that they have on shoes, shoemaking and leathers. Few know about this possibility, so I thought I’d share some of the books on these topics that I’ve found there. Stated below is the first publication date, but often it’s a later revision that has been digitised.
A manual of shoemaking and leather and rubber products, William H. Dooley, 1912
How to make a shoe, Jno. P. Headley, Jr., 1882
Boot and shoe manufacturers’ assistant and guide, W. H. Richardson, Jr., 1858
The book of the feet: a history of boots and shoes, J. Sparkes Hall, 1847
Lives of illustrious shoemakers, William Edward Winks, 1882
The leatherworker in eighteenth-century Williamsburg, 1978
The principles of leather manufacture, Henry. R. Procter, 1903
Leather: from the raw material to the finished product, K. J. Adcock, 1915
Synthetic tannins: their synthesis, industrial production and application, Georg Crasser, 1920
The chemist Henry Richardson Procter is a legendary authority on leather tanning, and has written several books about it, where a couple of them are available on PG. The principes of leather manufacture, first published in 1903 is a real classic and very informative. Picture: Project Gutenberg (banner picture: Holland Sentinel / Holland Historical Trust)
Another good source for shoemaking books online is the H.C.C Guild Library, which I wrote about in this article. If you have other good online sources for free books, or advice on other titles available on Project Gutenberg, you’re more than welcome to share below in the comments.
A great resource, many thanks for sharing!
Cheers Deborah!