Matthew McCormack from History at UON has published a book on Georgian shoes. Shoes and the Georgian Man is published by Bloomsbury. It is a full-colour book with around 80 illustrations, including images of many of the shoes that Matthew studied during his research. The book is available in paperback, hardback and ebook formats via the publisher’s website and booksellers.
Shoes and the Georgian Man explores the history of men’s shoes during a period of change in gender relations. Over the course of the eighteenth century, historians often argue that men’s and women’s roles diverged, and shoes are an important part of this story. The book uses a wide range of primary sources, but the key sources are surviving examples of shoes themselves in museum collections. These material sources not only give us an insight into what shoes would have been like to wear, but also provide evidence of the wearer’s body in their indentations, wrinkles and scuffs.
Matthew will be talking about the book at various events over the next few months. Details will be updated as they become available, and these include:
February (TBC): launch at the University of Northampton
11 March at 6pm: in conversation with Dr Serena Dyer (DMU) as part of the Northampton-Leicester Historical Association programme (free online)
14 March at 7:30pm: Richmond Museum, North Yorkshire
26 March at 4pm: Brunel Museum, London
Please contact [email protected] for further details, or if you would like to arrange a talk.
HISTORY AT NORTHAMPTON 