The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ladies' old-fashioned shoes
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: Ladies' old-fashioned shoes
Author: T. Watson Greig
Release date: November 24, 2025 [eBook #77314]
Language: English
Original publication: Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1885
Credits: Mairi, Matthew Everett, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LADIES' OLD-FASHIONED SHOES ***
Transcriber’s Notes
• Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
• Typographical errors were silently corrected.
• New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the
public domain.
• Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LADIES’
OLD-FASHIONED SHOES
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LADIES’
OLD-FASHIONED SHOES
BY
T. WATSON GREIG
OF GLENCARSE
A Vice-President of the Literary and Antiquarian Society of Perthshire,
&c., &c.
--------------
_With Eleven Illustrations from Originals in his Collection_
--------------
EDINBURGH
DAVID DOUGLAS
1885
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS.
--------------
PLATE
SHOE SAID TO HAVE BELONGED TO MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, I.
MISS LANGLEY’S SHOE, II.
COUNTESS OF PORTSMOUTH’S SHOE, III.
MRS WOODCOCK’S SHOE, IV.
SHOE OF LILIAS, DAUGHTER OF THE 12TH EARL OF V.
EGLINTON,
LADY MARY MORDAUNT’S SHOE (_Black_), VI.
LADY MARY MORDAUNT’S SHOE (_Yellow_), VII.
MRS BROWN’S SHOE, VIII.
UNKNOWN, IX.
UNKNOWN, X.
UNKNOWN, XI.
_The Descriptions of the Shoes will be found before each Plate._
--------------
APPENDIX.
PAGE
I.
Lord William Pitt Lennox on Shoes, 1
II.
Shoes in the Antiquarian Museum in Edinburgh, 1
III.
Shoes at the Exhibition at Cluny, in Paris, in 1883, by R. Heath, 1
IV.
Shoes at Westminster Abbey, in Pictures, and mentioned in 9
Evelyn’s Diary,
PREFACE.
--------------
The following Illustrations of Old Shoes are intended to preserve in an
intelligible form what is fast crumbling into dust; and it has been my
endeavour to collect the very best and most authentic specimens, as well
as to show the variety of shapes and the excellence of the workmanship
and design used by our ancestors.
I have to thank Sir BERNARD BURKE; Sir ROBERT MENZIES, of that Ilk; Mrs
BOURNE, of Breachoak; Mrs M’QUEEN, of Braxfield; and Messrs CASSELL &
CO., for their kind assistance.
PLATE I.
This shoe is supposed to have belonged to the beautiful and unfortunate
Mary Queen of Scots. Though remarkable for the smallness of its size, it
is by no means a specimen of the elaborate workmanship of former days,
being made of plain black satin; the simplicity of which, however, would
in all probability be relieved by a diamond buckle to fasten, as was the
fashion in olden times, the straps which were made to overlap each other
across the instep. It is interesting and valuable to the antiquarian on
account of its antiquity, and because of the rank and historical
celebrity of its quondam wearer.
[Illustration: I]
PLATE II.
Miss Langley, to whom this shoe belonged, lived in the reign of Charles
II. Made of pale silk, most beautifully embroidered, the shoe may be
considered as a _chef-d’œuvre_ in shoe manufacture of the times; while
the lace, of an intricate pattern and delicate as a spider’s web, is
very old and of much value. It is ornamented on the instep by a single
pearl, and its _tout-ensemble_ is altogether pretty and graceful, and
says much for the taste and dexterity of the shoemakers in the days of
Charles II.
[Illustration: II]
PLATE III.
Grace, only daughter of Fletcher Norton, Speaker of the House of
Commons, and afterwards created Lord Grantley, married John Charles,
Earl of Portsmouth. The shoe was found amongst the effects of the late
Lady Menzies of Menzies, who had received it from her aunt, and was worn
by the Countess of Portsmouth with fancy dress. It is made of pale silk
striped with blue, and is richly embroidered in steel. The form and
style is apparently that of the last century. The inside is beautifully
finished, being lined with pale pink silk and white kid; while a welt of
the latter, extending in height about half an inch from the sole
upwards, and in length from instep to toe, thus prevented any danger of
the splitting of the material of which the shoe was made. This practice
has now, for some reason or other, become impossible to the modern
shoemaker. The heel is very large, and the toe pointed.
[Illustration: III]
PLATE IV.
This shoe belonged to Anna Frances, wife of Walter Woodcock, and
daughter of William Lea, of Halesowen Grange, Shropshire, by Frances,
his wife, grand-daughter of Edward Ward, Lord Dudley, and Frances his
wife, daughter of Sir William Brereton, Bart. Mrs Woodcock was
consequently great-grand-daughter of Frances, Lady Dudley, and lived in
the beginning of the last century. The stuff of which the shoe is
composed is fine-spotted silk brocade of a yellowish colour, and
ornamented with a pattern of pale blue silk embroidery above the toe.
The shoe was worn with a buckle, has a small heel and round pointed toe.
[Illustration: IV]
PLATE V.
This shoe is made of lavender-coloured kid, with slashes of white satin
“let in” in front, forming a pattern narrow at the toe, and widening
towards the instep. The bottom of the heel is in the form of a heart,
which peculiarity cannot be observed in the illustration, though
perfectly apparent in the original. It belonged to Lilias, daughter of
the 12th Earl of Eglinton, and was worn by her at her marriage about the
middle of the eighteenth century. The height of the heel is what is worn
at present, but the toe is pointed, and filled up for half an inch with
wadding.
[Illustration: V]
PLATE VI.
Lady Mary Mordaunt was the owner of this shoe, the material of which is
closely spotted black silk. The shoe is without bow, tie, or straps, and
has a plain and insignificant appearance; and its low heel makes it
partake rather too much of the nature of a slipper.
[Illustration: VI]
PLATE VII.
This shoe also belonged to Lady Mary Mordaunt. The material is the same
as that of the black one, but its bright colour and elaborate gimp
trimming transforms it into a smarter and more stylish shoe. The point
of the toe is so extremely sharp and elongated, that it had to be well
stuffed with cotton-wool to preserve the shape.
[Illustration: VII]
PLATE VIII.
Nothing can be ascertained about Mrs Brown, the owner of this
magnificent shoe, except her name. It is made of cloth of gold; of
which, although for the most part the threads of the brocade are now
tarnished and blackened with age, there still remain a few inches which
have withstood the ravages of time, and which serve to indicate with
what brilliancy and effect the chaussure must have gleamed and sparkled
when fresh from the hands of the maker. This shoe was worn with a large
buckle, has an immense heel and pointed toe. It dates about the time of
Queen Elizabeth, and as it was procured in the vicinity of Kenilworth
(namely at Leamington) may have figured at the revels and festivities
there in its grand days.
[Illustration: VIII]
PLATE IX.
From its appearance this shoe must be a very old one, but the date and
name of its wearer cannot be discovered. It differs from many of the
preceding ones by the fact that the heel, instead of being covered with
the same material as the shoe, is formed of dark red leather. The old
brocade is very rich in texture, and harmonious in colouring; and the
flap above the instep is kept in place by a ribbon strap of a
corresponding hue.
[Illustration: IX]
PLATE X.
This large buckled shoe was worn in the reign of Queen Anne, though,
unfortunately, the name of its owner cannot be ascertained. The material
is pink silk; the embroidery in silks and metallic threads is very rich,
and the colours wonderfully preserved. The heel is of an immense height
and breadth, and the toe so extravagantly pointed, that it must have
protruded for a considerable distance beyond the foot.
[Illustration: X]
PLATE XI.
This shoe is fastened by a ribbon tie, instead of the overlapping straps
with ornamental buckle. It is made of plain black satin, with the silk
binding that is usual at the present day. The heel is neatly shaped, and
not of such extravagant height as that of other shoes of a corresponding
date, probably about the middle or end of the last century; toe pointed.
[Illustration: XI]
APPENDIX.
I.
The following is an extract from “Fashions Then and Now,” by Lord
William Pitt Lennox:--“From caps we descend ‘_au pied_.’ We have seen
dancing-shoes four inches in height at the heel, shoes of no measure,
some as broad as a tea-cup’s brim, some as narrow as the china circle
the cup stands upon. While upon the subject of shoes, I may remark that
some sixty years ago fashionable ladies turned ‘cordonniers,’ and having
purchased a wooden last, tools, leather, soles, silk, satin, and
prunella, furnished their evening ‘chaussures.’ So long as the wearers
remained in-doors, or drove out in a carriage, all went well; but when
these articles, ‘warranted’ (as the cheap bootmakers announce) to be
made at home, were put to the test in the promenade or ball-room, the
chances were ten to one they would not stand the wear, and that a heel
or ball of the foot would obtrude.”
--------------
II.
CATALOGUE OF SHOES IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES, EDINBURGH.
1. Series of Specimens of Ornamental Shoe-Buckles of the 17th and 18th
centuries.
2. Pair of Jack Boots as worn in the middle of the 17th century.
3. Sandal, dug up in the Magdalen Yard, Dundee, Forfarshire.--A.
Sutherland, 1827.
4. Old Celtic Shoe, with open-work, found six feet below the surface,
near Callander, Perthshire.
5. Soles of Shoes, found in the “Moray Vault,” under St Giles’ Church,
Edinburgh.--A. Ritchie, 1837.
6–11. Ladies’ Shoes, viz.:--(6) High-heeled Shoe and pair of Clogs,
as worn in the middle of last century; (7) High-heeled Crimson Satin
Shoes, with plated buckles--George Sim, F.S.A. Scot., 1863; (8) Pair of
Sky-blue Satin high-heeled Shoes, with buckles; (9) Pair of Black Satin
Shoes, high heels, with ribband tie; (10, 11) Two Pairs lemon-coloured,
sharp-pointed, high-heeled, Kid Shoes, with ribband rosettes, worn in
the beginning of the present century--Dr John Alexander Smith, F.S.A.
Scot., 1861.
12. Pair of Rivlins, or Shetland Shoes of untanned hide.--Gilbert
Goudie, F.S.A. Scot., 1873.
13–16. Shoes of Satin and Embroidered Work.
--------------
III.
FASHIONS FOR THE FEET.
BY R. HEATH.
(_Reprinted from the “Magazine of Art” by
permission of Messrs Cassell & Co._)
The collection of foot-gear at Cluny is full of interest not only for
artists, archæologists, and ethnologists, but for every student of human
nature. Originally formed by the eminent French engraver, the late Jules
Jacquemart, it was acquired by the Musée de Cluny in 1880. Further
enriched by the purchase of the collection of Baron Schvitter, it is in
every respect unique, not merely in its subject-matter, but because it
is at once very choice and singularly universal. Here are not only
examples of boots and shoes from ancient times, the Middle Ages, the
Renaissance, and every period since, but boots and shoes from every
quarter of the globe.
[Illustration: BOOTS AND SHOES.--I.
1. Female Shoe, Henri II.; 2. Shoe of Catherine de Medicis; 3. Shoe,
French (Sixteenth Century); 4. Female Shoe, Henri III.; 5. Italian
(Early Seventeenth Century); 6, 7. Shoes, Louis XIV.; 8. Italian
(Seventeenth Century); 9. French, Regency; 22. Boot, Louis XIII.; 25.
Military Boot, Henri III.; 26. Spanish Boot, Philip II.]
The chief interest naturally centres in that portion which is most
complete, and which illustrates the female fashions that have prevailed
in France and Italy from the time of the Valois to that of the First
Empire. One of the earliest examples is a female shoe of the age of
Henri II. (1). It is of white stuff, ornamented on the instep with a
large rosette of silver lace and a long metal point of gilt copper
engraved in chevrons. The heel is so enormously high, that the lady must
literally have stood on her toes. The long metal point is a remnant of a
fashion which prevailed from the Eleventh to the Fifteenth Century, and
which, though stigmatised by the bishops as immoral and impious, and
moreover rendered illegal in France by royal decree, and in England by
Act of Parliament, refused to do more than retire into temporary
banishment, reappearing in the reign of Louis XI. under a form more
offensive than ever. This was the long-peaked shoe, called in France the
_chaussure à poulaine_, from the resemblance of the point to the prow of
a ship. William of Malmesbury attributes its origin to a certain
follower of William Rufus, and evidently regards it as part and parcel
of the disgraceful morals of the Anglo-Norman court. In France it is
traced back to Geoffrey Plantagenet, father of Henry II. of England, who
is said to have had a great excrescence at the end of his foot, obliging
him to wear a peculiar form of shoe. The cordwainer appears to have hit
the public taste; for the Plantagenet shoe at once became the fashion,
and every one wore a long point, which gradually became elongated to two
feet, and had to be attached to the knee by a metal chain. Its full
proportions, however, were confined to princes and great nobles; lords
and very rich people were permitted to wear toes a foot long, but the
middle-class might not exceed six inches. These protuberances were
embroidered and trimmed with lace, the ends being shaped like a horn, a
claw, or some other grotesque point. This prevailed until the last
quarter of the Fourteenth Century, when the fashion gave way to a kind
of slipper with a very broad toe just rounded off. But in another
hundred years the peaked toes reappeared, and this time men wore points
of iron a foot long, through the end of which a chain was passed, so
that they were held aloft in the air. The same fashion appears to have
obtained in England, for Camden speaks of “shoes and patterns being
snowted and piked more than a finger long, looking upwards.” And here in
this shoe we have evidence of a lady as late as the days of Henri II.
wearing a long metal point. When we find such remarkable persistency in
a fashion apparently unreasonable, we suspect that in some way it
peculiarly expressed the spirit of the latter Middle Ages. In the shoe
before us, the union of the high heel with the peaked toe produces a
foot which very truly represents a court in which the men were satyrs
and the women sirens.
The next female shoe of interest comes from the wardrobe of Catherine de
Medici (2). The long toe has lost its point, and developed into
something like a duck’s bill, covered as far as the instep with a piece
of silk, on which are worked rosettes of silver lace placed so close as
to give the appearance of a metal surface. This shoe is made of white
leather, and seems to have lost its ornamentation. Both this example and
another of the Sixteenth Century (3) are peculiar in having soles which
connect the toe and the heel in the form of a patten. The second is made
of white leather, and cut out lozenge-wise with eight thongs, which
unite in a central one going up the instep; the heel is painted red, and
made of leaves of leather pressed together. The most reasonable shoe of
the Valois epoch, and indeed of the whole series from the French courts,
belongs to the time of Henri III. (4). It is made to the natural shape
of the foot, and has a heel of moderate height. Of fawn-coloured
leather, it is cut out at the sides in large lozenge-shaped openings,
and fastened by two straps, which spring from the neck and embrace the
central thong, the edges throughout being scalloped, and the shoe
embroidered with fine blue.
No specimen of woman’s wear under Henri IV. is given, but to judge from
a child’s shoe, the same fashion prevailed as that last illustrated.
With Louis XIII. the high heels and pointed toes reappear. An Italian
example (5) of this date resembles the Henri III. specimen in its open
sides, its scalloped edges, and its method of fastening; but the toe,
tending to a point, ends in a fine duck’s bill. The heel is painted red.
A German shoe of about the same time is tasteful, but more domestic. It
is of grey kid, embroidered on the upper with a bold design in black
silk. The toe is pointed and slightly raised; and the heel towards the
centre of the foot is painted pink.
We now come to the Ludovican period, the early part of which coincides
with that of Charles II. of England, a period whose extreme frivolity
and heartlessness are well expressed in its costume. What can be more
tasteless than the specimens (6, 7, 8) we have engraved of the fashion
of Louis XIV., with their hard shapes, their crude glaring colours, and
the recrudescence of the peaked toe? The heels have again risen
enormously, and turn the foot into the cloven hoof of the early Valois
period. The first is of damask, embroidered with white, blue, and
silver, and fastened with narrow straps: it is elevated on a very high
narrow heel, widening out at the base. The second somewhat reproduces
the shoe of Henri II.: the wearer must have stood on her toes. The
material is of yellow silk, embroidered from top to instep with a
tasteless covering of silver lace; the very high heel is in red morocco;
it is fastened just below the ankle with a strap and buckle. If these
two shoes show how the art of the Renaissance had declined in France,
the specimen from Italy of the same period (8) is even worse. One can
hardly believe that such a shoe was made for anything but a goat. Thus
shod, it is difficult to imagine how any creature less sure-footed could
maintain its balance. The toe is ornamented with rosettes in cerise and
yellow ribbons.
The Regency (1715–1723) is represented by a boot (9) which, apart from
its high heel, shaped like a barber’s wig-stand, would not be very ugly.
The front is even graceful in its lines, the flying flaps giving it a
floral appearance. The next series, belonging to the reign of Louis XV.,
cannot be denied a certain piquant grace. Later on I shall have to
remark the singular resemblance between the typical form (10) of this
reign and that prevalent in Mohammedan countries and in Japan. Only, the
beauty observable in Oriental and African specimens, due to innate
harmony, is here destroyed by the elevation of the shoe on pegs to a
height which gives it the appearance of springing from the middle of the
foot. In one example, the whole form of the shoe, even to the treading
down of the heel, is Oriental; but, perched on its stand, it has exactly
the form of an old coal-scuttle (11). These pegs, it would seem, were
helpful in dancing, for Gay writes in his “Trivia,”--
“The wooden heel may raise the dancer’s bound.”
The slippers of this period are also quite Oriental in character, being
merely a sole covered luxuriously at the toes.
The Louis XV. shape prevailed in the early years of Louis XVI., but
gradually gave way to a more natural and sober fashion. Among the
earlier specimens is a shoe which appears to have been worn by the
ordinary public. It has still much of the old style, but its proportions
are very modest. The covering is black spotted silk, with a sort of
puff-ball ornament over the toe, also in black silk. The pointed toe
continued some time, but the heel got flattened and began to recede into
its normal place. A specimen of this period is a slipper (12) said to
have belonged to the unfortunate Princess de Lamballe. It is sharply
pointed, but delicate in form. The material is pale green silk, set off
with yellow ribbons. But the shoe that must be considered typical of the
reign of Louis XVI. has a very low heel, and a toe which, at first oval,
becomes what botanists distinguish as ovate. The collection affords
several examples of this gradual change in the shape of the toe,
commencing with a very obtuse point, which in the end is quite lost. The
specimen engraved (13) is an extremely pretty slipper in green morocco,
with a red heel and a double ruche of red taffetas.
[Illustration: BOOTS AND SHOES.--II.
10, 11. Shoes, Louis XV.; 12. Slipper of the Princesse de Lamballe; 13.
Slipper, Louis XVI.; 14. Female Shoe, Louis XVI.; 15. Shoe, Napoleon
I.; 16. Shoe of the Empress Josephine; 17. Man’s Dress Shoe, 1820.]
These dainty shoekins must begin their last dance, and many will be
whirled away in the tumbrils. The galleries of Versailles and the
Tuileries resound with the noisy tread of the daughters of the people.
M. Jacquemart has wisely preserved a specimen of their foot-gear (14).
It is oval-toed, with a flap on both sides of the instep; the front,
opening slightly, is tied by a narrow ribbon, as also the flaps could be
if required, there being holes pierced for the purpose. The heels are
painted red. Then the Republic gives place to the Empire, and one of the
first changes in fashion is the reappearance of the pointed toe.
Otherwise, the shoes affected during the Consulate and first days of the
Empire are in the antique taste. The shoe we give (15) is in pearl-grey
linen, with a very restrained ornamentation in green silk; it might have
been worn by the women of Etruria. Born of republican admiration for
Greek and Roman liberty, the fashion soon passed away, and a singularly
dull mode set in. The specimen from the Empress Josephine’s wardrobe
(16) is indicative of the bourgeois character of the imperial court.
This fashion of neat, square, low-heeled shoes prevailed during the
Restoration with both sexes. From 1820 we get a man’s evening dress shoe
of varnished leather (17). The instep is cut away, and the opening made
to represent an embroidered stocking by a tracery of black kid on white
leather. Between this and the wear of Louis XV. there is a great lack of
male foot-gear. This is to be regretted, as a number of interesting
boots and shoes occur in this period. We should have the various
military boots under the Empire, especially the Hessian boot so common
in the early part of this century, and which in England was not quite
given up until the Wellington supplanted it. If it be true that
Bonaparte’s lack of boots kept him out of India, and led him into the
jaws of temptation, the boots in vogue in 1795 may be regarded as
historic, and ought to be represented in a French collection. We should
like also to see a specimen of the pumps of the Directory, and the
top-boots of the Revolution, an outcome of that Anglomania which was one
of its early symptoms. But with the exception of a small boy’s boot of
the age of Louis XVI., we get nothing in the way of male foot-gear until
we come to a postillion’s boot (18) of the time of Louis XV. To the same
period probably belongs a long flexible boot in shagreen leather, made
to completely cover the leg. It was tightened by means of buckles at the
top and below the knee.
Of the age of Louis XIV. we have three remarkable boots with funnel
tops--imperious, adventurous, impressive. One is an example of the
bellows boot, the _botte à soufflet_; another of the cauldron boot, the
_botte à chaudron_ (19). The latter has a singular appendage round the
ankle. The piece which held the spur is a sort of double flap,
apparently very inconvenient for riding or walking. The former is a
handsome boot, the leg being made square rather than round. The third
(20) is carefully made, with a top so enormous that a man could hardly
wear a pair without straddling. This is the more likely as the foot is
remarkably small. Evidently it belonged to some _petit maître_ of the
court of the Grand Monarque. Compare it with our next, of the same
period (21), and you have a vivid idea of what it cost humanity to
produce the pretty little furbelowed Louis Quatorze seigneurs.
The Louis Treize boot (22), included in our first group, differed little
from the _botte à soufflet_ just described, except that the heel was
higher, and that the upper part fell back more upon the leg. Of the same
period is an historical shoe (23) which belonged to the godson of Henri
IV., the unfortunate Henri de Montmorenci, beheaded at Toulouse in 1632.
It is of ordinary leather, very long, with a square flat toe; the upper
is adorned with a _fleur-de-lis_, and on the band are the initials of
the duke, surrounded by arabesques. It is interesting as showing the
fashion of the courts of Louis XIII. and Charles I. Among other very
singular shapes of the Seventeenth Century is one described as of
Flemish origin. Perhaps the others are of the same fashion. Whether they
are simply bootmakers’ freaks (28), or appertain to any particular
class, I cannot say. They appear unique, and they may possibly be dated
two or three centuries after their time. They are dated 1752; and as
they are more easily pictured than described, I shall return to them on
a future occasion. Of the Sixteenth Century we have a tall pair of
military boots of the reign of Henri III. (25), fitting close to the
leg, and having a low heel and rounded toe. A similar boot is the great
Spanish boot of the age of Philip II. (26). It is made in three distinct
parts, and nearly covers the whole leg; the heel is wedge-shaped. It
reminds us that one who was often arrayed in such foot-gear, the victor
of Lepanto, Don John of Austria, was believed by some to have been
poisoned by means of his boots. Brantôme, who tells the story, says, “It
is generally held that he (Juan d’Autriche) died poisoned _par des
bottines parfumées_.”
A Bohemian legend represents the illustrious dynasty of the Przemysl,
which for six centuries reigned in that land, as founded by a labouring
man whom Queen Libussa took from the plough that he might be her husband
and the chief of the people. That her descendants should not forget
their rustic origin and the duties it imposed, she caused the great
peasant-shoes their father had worn to be preserved; and they were
bequeathed to the son who succeeded him on the throne. Certain it is
that there is no article of dress so intimately associated with a
wearer’s personality as his shoes. Those frightful _souliers à vilain_
(21) of which I spoke in a previous part of this paper threw a light on
the old _régime_. The spirit of the gaunt and wretched peasant who for
long ages bore the burdens of royal and aristocratic France peered
grimly at us through their eyelets.
[Illustration: BOOTS AND SHOES.--III.
18. Postillion’s Boot, Louis XV.; 19. Cauldron Boot, Louis XIV.; 20.
Fashionable Boot, Louis XIV.; 21. Soulier de Vilain, Louis XIV.; 23.
Boot of Henri de Montmorenci, 1632; 24. Flemish Shoe, 1530.]
The four oldest examples of European foot-gear at Cluny are boots and
shoes worn by the _bourgeoisie_, or poorer classes. A Flemish shoe
depicted in the third illustration (24) belongs to the Sixteenth
Century. It was found in the storehouses of the hospital at Ghent, and
dates from 1530. It affords an example of the foot-gear worn by the
martyrs of religious liberty and social equality in the great struggle
of which Motley has recounted the partial victory. Perhaps one of the
most curious examples of foot-gear is a carefully made specimen of
German shoe of the Sixteenth Century (27). The toe seems intended as an
emphatic protest against the long peaks; it is in the fashion of a
turnover, and spreads out on both sides far beyond the width of the
foot. The outside is stamped with a lozenge pattern, the inside with
flowers and threads. From two specimens at Cluny (28 and 29), it would
seem as if the broad-toed German shoe ran at times into the
extravagances of the pointed shoe. The wear numbered 28 appears at Cluny
in two materials: in leather and in wood. In a previous reference to
this extraordinary shoe, I suggested that it was perhaps only a
bootmaker’s freak; but I have since met with a shoe similarly shaped,
minus the heel, on the foot of a German court-jester of the Sixteenth
Century. The other quaintness (29) is dated 1752, and is said to be
Flemish. The heel and hind-quarters are of the same fashion as the
foot-gear of the time of the Regency in France; the extraordinary
elongation is in harmony with the tendency of the fashion of the middle
of the last century, but is too extreme to permit us to believe that it
was made for serious wear. A still older specimen (30) is a little
German shoe of the first half of the Sixteenth Century, which proves
that the _chaussure à poulaine_ had not then died out in Germany. The
beak rises and curves backward; the ankle is adorned with an engraved
copper ring. This prepares us for the oldest specimen of all (31), a
_chaussure à poulaine_ of the Fifteenth Century, of which nothing
remains but the sole and the heel leather. This shoe, of which the
hinder part is made of red morocco, may be completed from a figure given
in Fairholt’s “Book of Costume” (p. 450), depicting one of the
“long-peaked shoon” found in a mediæval rubbish-heap upon which some
excavators came while digging deep in Whitefriars. This, with the
exception of the long toe, was very like the cloth boots lacing at the
sides which ladies wore not many years ago.
The first obvious impression produced by the Cluny collection is that
Boots and Shoes, occupying to the rest of the human apparel much the
same relation that the labouring classes do in society, are, like their
human antitypes, extremely tenacious of old forms, and never alter
except under the energising influence of Christian civilisation, and
even then only repeat through various stages the changes between the
pointed and square toe. This impression would be sustained by any other
collection of foot-gear, special or general. There is, for example, a
case of Roman shoes in the Guildhall Museum, in which there is a woman’s
half-boot so nearly resembling those worn in our own times, that it
would be very easy at the first glance to doubt its authenticity, and to
imagine it nothing more than an English roadside relic, the cast wear of
a modern tramp.
Mediæval chroniclers trace back the peaked shoes to individual
necessity, or the whims of an impious court; but we have found the
twisted pointed toe as early as the Ninth Century, and existing both in
Italy and Germany long before Fulk suffered from bunions, or the Red
King’s courtiers indulged in base and worthless eccentricities. It is
less doubtful that the pointed shoe turned back on the instep is a
fashion universal throughout the East and Northern Africa, and that it
has been so from ancient times. I have grouped on Fig. VI. (page 8) a
number of specimens shown at Cluny: from India, ancient and modern,
Persia, Africa, China, Annam, Albania, and Lapland, showing how general
the fashion is, and how similar are the forms it takes in lands remote
and strange. From these examples it will be seen how very slight is the
difference in form between the shoes worn by the ladies of the court of
Louis XV. and those of Algeria and the far East, the advantage in true
beauty and grace being entirely in favour of the latter.
[Illustration: BOOTS AND SHOES.--IV.
27. German (Sixteenth Century); 28. Peaked (Seventeenth Century);
29. Flemish, 1752; 30. German (Early Sixteenth Century); 31. Peaked
(Fifteenth Century).]
The epithets of pretty and piquant are appropriate enough to some of the
shoes in the European collection; but for pure elegance we must go to
Hindoo and Mohammedan lands. In the small case of Indian shoes at Cluny
there is more than one pair of shoes that will tell us why the story of
the Glass Slipper took such a hold on the Oriental imagination. The
exquisite form of one (32) suggests Cinderella; the pure and beautiful
lines of another (33) render it worthy of the foot of that noblest among
the types of female character, brave Seventee Bai. The first has a linen
upper, embroidered with silver thread and spangles; the second is
embroidered with gold, except the curious little tongue on the instep,
which is minutely ornamented with gold and silver, mingling with the
glittering shards of insects. A boat-like slipper (34) from Northern
Africa is also extremely elegant and delicate, and looks light as an
eggshell, which it nearly resembles in colour. This appearance of
lightness is enhanced by an ornamentation of puffs in white and
rose-coloured silks. Boots are little used in India; even the native
soldiery wear shoes. In Mohammedan countries, however, boots are women’s
wear. Thus at Cluny there is a pair of women’s half-boots of yellow
leather finely cut, and so arranged that the toe-piece and sole look
like an over-shoe. This recalls the description in “Eothen” of those
“coffin-shaped” bundles which stand for a Mohammedan lady taking a walk
with her servants. “Painfully struggling against the obstacles to
progression interposed by the many folds of her clumsy drapery, by her
_big mud boots_, and especially by her two pair of slippers, she works
her way full awkwardly enough, closely followed by her women-slaves.”
The use of the boot marks a conquering race. In mediæval Germany it was
forbidden to the serfs; and this explains why, when they rose for
justice after ages of oppression, they chose for their cognisance and
standard of defiance a great peasant’s shoe, whence their Confederation
was known as the Bundschuh.
It has been suggested to me that the origin of the pointed shoe is to be
found in the mediæval horror of witchcraft. Thus, a writer on Bavarian
superstitions says: “As the twelfth hour struck came the witch, but she
could do nothing against the servant, who had taken the precaution to
have shoes with the points upwards.” I have a more utilitarian theory.
Of the Indian shoes at Cluny two have been engraved. In the modern
Indian wear (35) the peak has become merely an ornament, but in the
older fashions (36) its use is plain. The point is so long, and of so
soft a material that it must have been attached by some means to the
instep. A shoe from the Punjaub (37) and one from Persia (38) suggest
that it was designed to prevent the foot from kicking up the dust,
peculiarly unpleasant in hot countries. The name given in the Middle
Ages in France to the peaked shoe was suggested, as I have said, by its
resemblance to the prow of a boat; but here in Persia we get shoes which
look like little models of boats. Our example only wants a mast and
sail, and you might imagine it lying in some Oriental river. The pointed
toe, then, comes from the East, and its origin was a simple necessity of
common life. Fashion, ever ignorant and careless, elongated it into an
ornament beautiful or barbarous, or reduced it to a mere rat’s tail, as
it appears in some Persian boots (39). Or, doing away entirely with the
strap, Fashion left it a curved point, as in the Chinese military boot
(40); the curious shoe from Southern Albania (41); the pretty slipper
from Cochin-China or Annam (42), and the comfortable shoe from Lapland
(43).
Shoes in India are only worn by the higher classes, and among a few of
the lower castes. This habit of going shoeless seems to render the toes
of the Hindoo foot almost as lissom as fingers. A blacksmith with a
piece of iron to file fixes it between the jaws of a small pair of
tongs, grasps them between the toes of both feet, and holds them so
firmly that he is able to file with all the strength of his arms. As he
works sitting on the ground, he occasionally stretches out a leg, and
picks up some article which happens to be beyond the reach of his arm.
Such a workman’s foot tends to assume the character of a hand; not only
does the great toe become prehensile, but there is an actual enlargement
of the distance between it and the other toes.
To go barefooted in India must at times be a positive luxury. The higher
classes in some parts wear no stockings, only covering their feet with
white embroidered slippers. The colour of Oriental shoes appears to be
of importance, indicating, I suppose, the rank and caste of the owner.
Red and yellow are the favourite hues, the sole being often red, or
black tipped with red. Yellow is the Mohammedan colour. An old writer
tells a story which seems to show that it was jealously protected as the
distinctive mark of a Turk. Some charitable persons having given a
Christian beggar an old pair of yellow slippers, the unfortunate man’s
feet caught the Sultan’s eye: his explanation could not save his life.
While the Turks of that day wore yellow slippers, the Janissaries were
obliged to wear red shoes. Another Oriental traveller in the early part
of the Seventeenth Century expresses surprise at finding green the
favourite colour for boots and shoes in Persia, inasmuch as in Turkey it
was quite unlawful. This is the colour of the great Persian boot (39) in
my engraving.
[Illustration: BOOTS AND SHOES.--V.
44. Peaked Patten (Fifteenth Century); 45, 46. Venetian Pattens
(Sixteenth Century); 47. Indian Patten.]
I have remarked upon the formless square-toed shoes of the Empire. We
meet the same uncomely shapes in the shoes worn by the women of Manilla
in the Philippines, and in those which come from Mexico. The latter are
entirely in open-work, and made of vegetable silk. It would be
interesting to notice how far a flat broad-toed shoe is indicative of
societies formed or existing under repressive rule, religious or
political, and how far the pointed shoe bears witness to a state of
things tending towards dissolution and social anarchy. From Mexico we
pass naturally to the shoes of the Red Men. The mocassin is the simplest
form of shoe, being a wrapping of leather or cloth fitted to the foot,
and more or less beautifully ornamented. These shoemakers did not expect
the foot to suit itself to the shoe, but modelled the shoe to the foot.
This is as much as to say that they had the idea of rights and lefts.
The early ornaments are simple forms embroidered on the leather; but in
some the work is very pretty, and the designs are laboriously worked on
cloth in silk or in beads. The nearest approach to the simplicity of
American-Indian cordwainery is to be found in the sacerdotal shoe. There
are several gorgeous specimens at Cluny, one of which belonged to the
excellent pontiff Clement XIV. (1765–1773). Of crimson velvet, or red or
white satin, embroidered with gold, the shapes of these shoes take us
back to the time when the first bishops and deacons of Rome wore the
_carbatina_, the shoe of the ordinary citizen. It consisted of a piece
of ox-hide which did duty as a sole, and was then raised at the sides
and over the toes, and tied upon the instep and round the lower part of
the leg by straps which pass through holes made for the purpose. This
form of foot-gear is still that of the peasants of the Roman Campagna.
The Papal _mula_ is thought by some to have a grander origin. Its name
suggests that it is the representative of the _mullens_, a form of shoe
worn by the highest Roman authorities, to whom it had come down from the
kings of Alba. It is to be noted that the priests of all religions have
made a point of wearing the simplest foot-gear, and have therefore
longest adhered to that most primitive form of shoe, the sandal. The
Egyptian priests wore sandals of papyrus or palm. In the British Museum
is a fine collection of Egyptian sandals, many of them of tasteful
workmanship. Such were the wear of Rhodope, the Cinderella of old Nile.
Rhodope had the loveliest foot in Egypt. One day she was bathing, when
an eagle stooped from heaven and carried off her sandal. She watched him
soar with his treasure, and presently he vanished with it into space.
When at last he let it drop, it fell at the feet of King Psammeticus, as
he sat in the open air administering justice. He was charmed with its
beauty, and commanded a search to be made for its owner. Rhodope was
quickly discovered, and became the Queen of Egypt.
At Cluny there are not only examples of Egyptian sandals, but specimens
of those worn in various parts of Africa, by the negroes on the Gambia
and by the Malagasy; with some of Arab origin, and some from India. One
pair of Indian sandals of antique make, in black leather cut into
innumerable thongs, have such a diabolical appearance that they might
well be the foot-gear of a Rakshah--an ogre.
[Illustration: BOOTS AND SHOES.--VI.
33. Indian, Female; 34. Indian; 35. Indian, Male; 36. Ancient Indian,
Male; 37. Punjaubese, Male; 38, 39. Persian; 40. Chinese; 41. South
Albanian; 42. Cochin-Chinese; 43. Lapland.]
The collection at Cluny would hardly be representative of French
foot-gear if it did not contain several examples of the sabot. There are
some which date from the Seventeenth Century. Sabots do not appear to be
an ancient wear; nevertheless their origin is involved in obscurity. A
specimen in elaborate open-work suggests long periods of forced leisure;
and it is not unlikely that the sabot originated in those great forests
of Germany and France, where, during the winter, the people are
compelled to cease their ordinary work, and to take up with some in-door
employment. What more natural than that wood-cutters should carve for
themselves and for their children shoes that should be proof against mud
and briars alike? Now, sabots are shapen by machinery.
A number of pattens are exhibited at Cluny. This old-fashioned
wet-weather wear, like the modern goloshe, derives its name from the
French _patin_, and not as Gay writes:--
“The patten now supports each frugal dame,
Which from the blue-ey’d Patty takes its name.”
One, of the Fifteenth Century, is a contemporary of the long-peaked
shoe, a specimen of the last expiring burst of the folly of mediæval
fashion in the Middle Ages, the clog (44). Fairholt has reproduced a
ludicrous picture of a king of England in foot-gear of this sort. It is
taken from one of the Cotton MSS., where an able artist has represented,
in the costume of the reign of Henry VI., the line of English kings from
the Conqueror downwards. Richard III. and Buckingham clumping about on
the Tower walls in abominable clogs, made doubly maleficent by the
protruding toe, and clad in “rotten armour,” must indeed have looked a
“marvellous ill-favoured” pair; nor could it have been difficult for
Buckingham to counterfeit suspicion, “pry on every side, tremble and
start at wagging of a straw.”
There are also several examples of goloshes belonging to the time of
Louis XIV.; but the most curious pattens are those worn by the Sixteenth
Century Venetian ladies. The shoe is of white leather, stamped with an
ornamentation, the stand of wood being also covered with white leather
(45). Another is of such enormous length as to almost be a stilt. Tom
Coryate, in his “Crudities” (1611), says that these “chapineys,” as he
calls them, were so common in Venice, that no woman ventured out of her
house without them, and that some were half a yard high. And this is
corroborated by the statement of Raymond, who, in his journey in Italy
in 1648, speaks of “shoes elevated as high as a man’s leg.” The Venetian
ladies had in consequence to be assisted when they took their walks
abroad, otherwise they ran the risk of taking a fall. Thus the
“tottering willows” of China have had their parallel at their antipodes
in Christian Italy. The fashion was still in vogue in the days of
Evelyn, who describes the Venetian ladies as stalking about in their
“choppines,” and notes the ridiculous figures they cut in attempting to
crawl out of their gondolas.
But wisdom or folly--all comes from the East. These Venetian chopines
were of Oriental origin. In the time of Queen Elizabeth, George Sandys,
an old traveller, saw them on the feet of Turkish ladies; and here at
Cluny are several examples of a patten made for the baths of
Constantinople and Damascus. The Mohammedan patten, however, has nothing
of the ugliness which marks the Venetian imitation. It is simply a good
piece of cabinet-work, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Another patten of
Venetian origin (46), decorated in a Moorish style, and evidently
intended for gala days when the road was stainless and not a puddle to
be seen, recalls the old-fashioned patten of our grandmothers. But
perhaps the most curious pattens of all come from India. One pair are
shaped like epaulettes, and richly ornamented with satin of various
colours. Others are formed of soles made of wood, and mounted on stands,
with a button between the great and second toe to keep it on the foot.
This make is also found in Java. In some Indian specimens (47) there is
a spring in the heel, which, communicating with a red lotus flower which
acts as the maintaining button, causes it at every step the wearer makes
to open its six lobes and display its corolla.
--------------
IV.
On the wax figures in Westminster Abbey, which can be seen by an order
from the Dean, and which were said to have been carried at the funeral
of the person dressed in their clothes, on Queen Elizabeth and the
Duchess of Marlborough the large-heeled shoes can be seen, but so
covered with dust, that beyond being the colour of the dress, with a
large round rosette fastened in the centre with a round button, nothing
could be made of them. Shoes can also be seen in portraits, but seldom
in a distinct form. Evelyn mentions shoes constantly in his diary.
[Illustration: Printed and on Stone by George Waterston & Sons.
Edinburgh.]
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LADIES' OLD-FASHIONED SHOES ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may
do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when
you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country other than the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work
on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg™ License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format
other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
provided that:
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has
agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation.”
• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™
works.
• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
receipt of the work.
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
