The Book of the Feet (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. A History of Boots and ShoesBy Joseph Sparkes Hall
Length4h 6m
About this audiobook
The Book of the Feet is a compact but richly informed Victorian study of footwear as material culture, tracing boots, shoes, sandals, and coverings of the foot from antiquity to modern Europe. Combining antiquarian research, practical observation, and lively descriptive prose, Hall treats footwear not as a trivial accessory but as evidence of climate, class, craft, fashion, and social ritual. Its style belongs to the nineteenth-century tradition of learned popular histories, where scholarship, illustration, and professional expertise meet. Joseph Sparkes Hall was a distinguished London bootmaker, remembered especially for his association with Queen Victoria and for helping popularize the elastic-sided ankle boot. His authority came not only from reading but from daily contact with leather, fit, form, and fashionable demand. The book reflects the outlook of a craftsman-intellectual: someone who understood shoes as engineered objects, commercial goods, and symbols of changing manners. This volume is recommended to readers interested in fashion history, Victorian craftsmanship, design studies, or the cultural meanings of everyday objects. It offers more than a curiosity cabinet of old shoes; it reveals how dress records civilization itself, one step at a time.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
Audiobook details
GenreOther
Length4 hrs 6 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 2, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2CHAPTER I. ON THE MOST ANCIENT COVERINGS FOR THE FEET.
3CHAPTER II. THE HISTORY OF BOOTS AND SHOES IN ENGLAND.
4CHAPTER III. ON THE MORE MODERN FORMS OF FOREIGN BOOTS AND SHOES.
5CHAPTER IV. COMMENCEMENT OF THE TRADE.
Show all chaptersShow less
6CHAPTER V. THE STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN FEET, ETC.
7CHAPTER VI. THE POETRY OF THE FEET, ETC.
8CHILDREN’S BOOTS AND SHOES.
9GENTLEMEN’S BOOTS AND SHOES.
10CHAPTER VII. HISTORY OF BOOTS AND SHOES IN THE UNITED STATES.
11CHAPTER VIII. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF EMINENT SHOEMAKERS.
12ROGER SHERMAN.
13DANIEL SHEFFEY.
14GIDEON LEE.
15SAMUEL DREW.
16ROBERT BLOOMFIELD.
17NATHANIEL BLOOMFIELD.
18WILLIAM GIFFORD.
19NOAH WORCESTER, D. D.
20JAMES LACKINGTON,
21JOSEPH PENDRELL.
22THOMAS HOLCROFT.
23REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D. D.
24GEORGE FOX.
25REV. JAMES NICHOL.
26REV. WILLIAM HUNTINGTON.
27CHAPTER IX. CRISPIN ANECDOTES, ETC.
28Memorable Quotes
Mere ChristianityC. S. Lewis7h 7m4.4 (519.7K)$24 · $0.00
Her Daily BreadKate Wood12h 57m4.6 (153)$33 · $0.00
The Holy Bible - 1 SamuelKing James2h 13m4.8 (1.6K)$3 · $0.00
The American Standard Bible — The Gospel of MatthewMatthew3h 56m4.7 (3K)$2 · $0.00
Bad Fat Black GirlSesali Bowen6h 32m4.7 (2.8K)$24 · $0.00
The King James Audio Bible New Testament CompleteChristopher Glyn20h 2m4.7 (2.6K)$12 · $0.00
Faiths CheckbookCharles Spurgeon12h 44m4.7 (3.2K)$11 · $0.00
Ten Things I Wish You Knew About Your Child's Mental HealthDr. Billy Garvey4h 53m4.7 (2.4K)$20 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m4.7 (343)$20 · $0.00
The Chosen Book OneAmanda Jenkins, Kristen Hendricks, Dallas Jenkins3h 8m4.6 (4.9K)$10 · $0.00
The Lives of BrianBrian Johnson9h 45m4.6 (3.5K)$29 · $0.00
Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of LukeJ.C. Ryle27h 13m4.7 (536)$18 · $0.00
CrossroadsKaleb Dahlgren7h 56m4.6 (4.9K)$26 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m4.6 (927)$29 · $0.00
Brain Training for RidersAndrea Monsarrat Waldo5h 56m4.7 (550)$19 · $0.00
My Effin' LifeGeddy Lee17h 11m4.6 (13.1K)$40 · $0.00
Kings and PawnsHoward Bryant10h 9m4.6 (678)$29 · $0.00
The Elementia Chronicles #2: The New OrderSean Fay Wolfe11h 17m4.6 (841)$29 · $0.00
The ActsLuke2h 55m4.6 (19.7K)$12 · $0.00
Woodcraft and Camping (Annotated)George Washington Sears3h 30m4.6 (1.2K)$1.99 · $0.00
You may also like
An Account of EgyptHerodotus5h 4m4.0 (1.1K)$1 · $0.00
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (Annotated)Diogenes Laertius21h 28m4.1 (801)$2 · $0.00
The American BibleStephen Prothero22h 47m4.0 (266)$46 · $0.00
Persian ArtVladimir Lukonin, Anatoly Ivanov10h 31m3.8 (14)$18 · $0.00
The Gundungurra Language (Annotated)R. H. Mathews32m$1.99 · $0.00
Art of IndiaVincent Arthur Smith7h 34m3.9 (26)$18 · $0.00
Sweden (Annotated)Victor Alfred Nilsson14h 8m$1.99 · $0.00
Western European Illuminated ManuscriptsAnrdei Sterligov, Tamara Voronova6h 40m4.8 (12)$18 · $0.00
Head-Gear, Antique and ModernR. H. Wadleigh25m$2.30
People of AfricaEdith A. How1h 21m$2 · $0.00
Is Polite Society Polite? and Other EssaysJulia Ward Howe2h 45m$2 · $0.00
Hellenism in Asia MinorKarl Dieterich3m$1 · $0.00
The great history of Russian balletEvdokia Belova, E. Bocharnikova7h 49m$15 · $0.00
Church Needlework: A manual of practical instructionHinda M. Hands3h 27m4.0 (11)$1 · $0.00
Korean BuddhismFrederick Starr2h 4m$2 · $0.00
The story of chamber musicN. Kilburn5h 13m$1 · $0.00
JewelleryH. Clifford Smith13h 2m$2 · $0.00
Stone ArtGerard Fowke4h 59m$2 · $0.00
Illuminated ManuscriptsTamara Woronowa, Andrej Sterligow1h 47m3.8 (14)$15 · $0.00
Abridgement of Roman HistoryEutropius4h 3m3.5 (93)$1.99 · $0.00