Publisher's description and from the back cover:
Until recently, very little was known about medieval shoes. Glimpses in manuscript illustrations and on funerary monuments, with the occasional reference by a contemporary writer, was all that the costume historian had as evidence, not least because leather tends to perish after prolonged contact with air, and very few actual examples survived. In recent years, however, nearly 2,000 shoes, many complete and in near-perfect condition, have been discovered preserved on the north bank of the Thames, and are now housed in the Museum of London. This collection, all from well-dated archaeological contexts, fills this vast gap in knowledge, making it possible to chart precisely the progress of shoe fashion between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries.

Indispensable to shoe researches for the reliability of its dating evidence. FINDS RESEARCH GROUP AD 700-1700 [Along with Dress Accessories] these two volumes brook few rivals and represent the best scholarship focused on shoes and everyday dress accessories from the Middle Ages. Indispensable….Groundbreaking. SPECULUM

Contents:
VI Acknowledgements
VII Introduction to second edition
1 Introduction
7 Recording methods, archive and conventions used in the report
9 Shoes from London sites, 1100-1450
early 12th century - later 12th century - early/mid 13th century - late 13th and early 14th centuries - mid 14th century - late 14th century - early 15th century
44 Shoemaking and cobbling
the leather - shoemaking - stitching and seams - soles and rand - cutting patterns of uppers - buckles and other fittings - decoration (embroidery (by Frances Pritchard), openwork, incised and engraved) - toe stuffing (by Alan Eddy) - repairs and reuse
91 Pattens
wooden pattens, 12th-15th centuries - Ieather pattens, 14th-15th centuries
102 Sizes and wear patterns: social inferences
sizes - wear patterns and deformities of the feet
112 Shoes in art and literature
pictorial and literary parallels - status - women's and children's shoes
123 Glossary
126 List of figures and concordance
Appendices
131 (1) The excavations
137 (2) Conservation (by Katharine Starling)
140 Bibliography
143 Summaries in French and German