The Book and Shoe Manufacturers' Assistant and Guide. Containing a Brief History of the Trade. History of India-Rubber and Gutta-Percha, and their application to the manufacture of books and shoes. Full instructions in the art, with diagrams and scales, etc., etc. Vulcanization and Sulphurization, England and American Patents with an Elaborate Treatise on Tanning.
Boston: Higgins, Bradley & Dayton, 1858. 8vo. 200 x 120 mm. (8 x 5 inches). xxv, 9-345 pp., plus 17 pp. directory of leather companies; (same collation as Sabin and the copy at the University of Delaware). Original brown cloth, title in gilt on spine; cloth boards discolored otherwise a sound and attractive copy.
First and only edition. Encyclopedic work on the leather and shoe trade that includes detailed historical information of the manufacture of boots and shoes. Richardson text also acts as a guide or manual to techniques of the trade and offer opinions on the machinery required for fine finished products. He includes information on both English and French styles of shoes and provides patterns for manufacture.
Reviewed at the time by G. S. Hillard and called "an interesting and instructive book."
Sabin 71096. Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature, II p. 1801. (302). Item #302
Price: $400.00