Wonderful illustrations of extant medieval purses -- the inclusion of cross sections and stitch/cutting patterns demystifies a lot of construction. A fantastic, albeit niche, resource for the reenactor; I only wish all the purses covered were as visually detailed as the girdle purses. ( )

This is a new book from the man who wrote THE work on historical shoes ("Stepping Through Time") - and this one is about pouches and purses, specifically those found in the Denmark, where Mr. Goubitz was a scholar.

The book is a very easy read, with lots and LOTS of pictures of different types and styles of pouches/purses/girdles, etc. Mr. Goubitz was a wonderful artist, and many of most of the sketched archaeological items are artistic, as well as informative. He shows pictorial evidence for pouches, and then compares them to extant excavated pieces, along with some reconstructed articles.

While this book isn't necessarily as 'scholarly' as the Museum of London series (it doesn't read that way, at least) - it's specific focus, with so many pictures, examples, and other details makes this a wonderful addition to the research library of leatherworkers. It is very unfortunate that Mr. Goubitz passed away in 2007, because he apparently had a series of books on archaeological leatherwork planned, and only got the chance to produce 2 of them. ( )