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  THE HERITAGE OF DRESS




  [Illustration: VERY EARLY MAN IN JAVA. (_Chapter II._)

  _PLATE I._]




  THE HERITAGE
  OF DRESS

  BEING NOTES ON THE HISTORY
  AND EVOLUTION OF CLOTHES

  BY
  WILFRED MARK WEBB

  FELLOW OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON
  CURATOR OF ETON COLLEGE MUSEUM

  WITH ELEVEN PLATES
  AND ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-NINE FIGURES IN THE TEXT

  LONDON
  E. GRANT RICHARDS
  1907




  TO MY WIFE
  HILDA E. WEBB




PREFACE


It would be difficult to find a subject of more universal interest than
that of dress, and hosts of books have been written which deal with the
attire that has been adopted at different times and by various nations
or social classes. The ornamental and artistic sides of the question
have also received much consideration, but the volumes that have
appeared serve chiefly as works of reference. The present book aims at
being of more immediate interest and usefulness; it starts with things
as they are, and is really a popular contribution to the natural history
of man.

On all sides the advantages of observation and the need for the
nature-study method in education are being rightly urged, but there is
a tendency to narrow the purview. Anything in our environment is worthy
of notice, and though attention is well directed towards that which is
least artificial, we should not leave man and his works altogether on
one side. There is material for observation, research, and deduction,
even in a bowler hat and a cut-away coat.

One of the pleasantest features in connection with the making of this
book has been the kind and ready help which I have received from all
sides. Here and there throughout the text the names of friends and
correspondents who have given their assistance have been mentioned. To
these I offer my hearty thanks, as well as to the following, who with
suggestions, information, or with material for illustrations, have
contributed in no small way to the interest of the book: Messrs. Fownes
Brothers & Company, Mr. Allan A. Hooke, Mr. W. S. Ward, Mr. Karl, of
Messrs. Nathan & Company, Messrs. Tress & Company, Messrs. Lincoln &
Bennett, Mr. M. D. Hill, the Rev. A. W. Upcott, Head Master of Christ's
Hospital, Miss Clark, Miss Hodgson, the Rev. R. Ashington Bullen, Mr.
Henry Miller, of the Church Association, Mr. Ravenscroft, of Messrs. Ede
Sons & Ravenscroft, Mr. Paley Baildon, Mr. George Hertslet, of the Lord
Chamberlain's Office, Messrs. Wilkinson & Company, Mr. C. M. Muehlberg,
Mr. W. S. Parker, of Messrs. Debenhams, Ltd., Capt. H. Trench, Major
J. W. Mallet, of the _Army and Navy Gazette_, Mr. Basil White, of
Messrs. Hawkes & Company, Mr. W. H. Jesson, Messrs. Souter & Company,
Mr. William Lawrence, Mr. Heather Bigg, Dr. J. Cantlie, and the Rt. Hon.
Viscountess Harberton.

A glance at the bibliography, which is given on pages 363-7, will show
the principal books and papers to which reference has been made.

In connection with the illustrations, special thanks must be given to
Monsieur Maurice Sand, the Editor of the _Review of the University of
Brussels_, for his kind permission to reproduce a number of the figures
used to illustrate a translation of Sir George Darwin's article. These
are Figures 14, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 30, 31, 33, 46, 48, 62,
63, and 82. Acknowledgments are due to Mr. St. John Hope for Figures
86-8, to Messrs. A. & C. Black for Figures 123 and 124 and 132 and 133,
and to Messrs. Prewett & Co. for Figures 111 and 112.

For the original of Plate II, I am indebted to the kindness of Captain
R. Ford, of Plate III to Mr. Henry Stevens; Plate IV has been taken from
a brass rubbing in Rugby School Museum, through the kind offices of Mr.
J. M. Hardwich