The history of leatherworking and leather making stretches back thousands of years, making it one of humanity’s oldest crafts. Early humans discovered that animal hides could be preserved and softened through natural processes like smoking, drying, or treating with plant tannins, giving rise to the art of leather making. Ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans refined tanning methods and used leather for clothing, armor, footwear, and tools. During the Middle Ages, leatherworking became an important trade, with specialized guilds forming across Europe to regulate quality and train artisans. The Industrial Revolution brought major changes with the invention of chemical tanning and machinery that increased production efficiency. In modern times, while large-scale tanneries produce leather for global industries, traditional leathercraft remains a respected art form, preserving age-old techniques of cutting, tooling, dyeing, and stitching. Today, leatherworking continues to blend ancient skill with modern design, symbolizing both durability and craftsmanship.
All of the book titles that are included in this DVD are listed as follows:
A complete guide to the ornamental leather work by J. Revell - London (18--)
A history of furniture with chapters on tapestry, oriental embroidery and leather work by A. Jacquemart (1907)
A manual of shoemaking and leather and rubber products by W. H. Dooley (1912)
A new and complete treatise on the arts of tanning, currying, and leather-dressing; comprising all the discoveries and improvements made in France, Great Britain, and the United States by H. Dussauce (1865)
A study of the changes in skins during their conversion into leather by A. A. Schlichte (1915)
Application of dyestuffs to textiles, paper, leather and other materials by J. M. Matthews (1920)
Area measurement of leather by F. J. Schlink (1920)
Cleaning of fur and leather garments by M. H. Goldman (1927)
Cowie's bookbinder's manual containing a full description of leather and vellum binding by J. Allen (1860)
Directions for the tanning and dressing of furs by J. Dixon (1922)
Durability of sole leather filled with sulphite cellulose extract by R. C. Bowker (1922)
Effects of glucose and salts on the wearing quality of sole leather by P. L. Wormeley (1919)
English of leather making by G. F. Quimby (1919)
Facts worth knowing about leather, boots, and shoes by J. H. Walker (1872)
Hides & skins and the manufacture of leather by J. P. Warburg (1921)
Laboratory wearing test to determine the relative wear resistance of sole leather at different depths throughout the thickness of a hide by R. W. Hart (1920)
Leather bookbindings how to preserve them by J. S. Rogers (1956)
Leather chemists' pocket-book, a short compendium of analytical methods by H. R. Proctor (1912)
Leather industries laboratory book of analytical and experimental methods by H. R. Procter (1908)
Leather investigations the composition of some sole leathers by F. P. Veitch (1913)
Leather manufacture a practical handbook of tanning, currying, and chrome leather dressing by A. Watt (1906)
Leather manufacture, a treatise on the practical workings of the leather manufacture; ... together with numerous ... recipes... and miscellaneous matter by J. W. Stevens (1891)
Leather work by W. H. Wilson (1908)
Leather working by P. N. Hasluck (1904)
Leather, Hides, Skins & Tanning Materials by E. C. Snow (1924)
Make-overs from leather, fur and felt by C. L. Scott (1946)
Manufacture of leather by A. Rogers (1922)
Nature and control of tannery processes by J. R. Lorenz (1922)
P. Stephenson's lightning tanning process by P. Stephenson (1879)
Practical tanning a handbook of modern processes, receipts, and suggestions for the treatment of hides, skins and pelts of every description by L. A. Flemming (1916)
Practical tanning; a handbook of modern practice and processes as applied in the manufacture of leather and allied products by A. Rogers (1922)
Principles and practice of fur dressing and fur dyeing by W. E. Austin (1922)
Puering, bating & drenching of skins by J. T. Wood (1912)
Roycroft leather-book being a catalog of beautiful leathern things made Roycroftie by hand by Roycroft artists by Roycroft (1909)
Seven easy and cheap methods, for preparing, tanning, dressing, scenting and renovating all wool & fur peltries by C. Goodrich (1860)
Shoe and leather encyclopedia (1911)
Shoe and leather trade of the last hundred years by S. Bryant (1891)
Something about leather by L. Allyne (1897)
Tanners' and chemists' handbook by L. E. Levi (1909)
The American tanner by N. R. Briggs (1892)
The art of tanning leather by D. H. Kennedy (1857)
The arts of tanning, currying, and leather dressing; theoretically considered in all their details by J. de Fontenelle (1852)
The boot and shoe manufacturers' assistant and guide by W. H. Richardson (1858)
The decoration of leather by M. Nathan (1905)
The gleanings of tanning by H. Montgomery (1883)
The home mechanic and complete self-instructor in carpentry, painting, horse-shoeing, soap making, candy making, baking, taxidermy, tanning by R. J. Schofield (1897)
The leather manufacture in the United States; a dissertation on the methods and economies of tanning by J. S. Schultz (1876)
The leather specimen book by F. W. La Croix (1917)
The making of leather by H. R. Proctor (1914)
The manufacture of leather being a description of all of the processes for the tanning, tawing, currying, finishing by C. T. Davis (1885)
The manufacture of leather by H. G. Bennett (1909)
The practical upholsterer - giving clear directions for skillfully performing all kinds of upholsteres' work in leather, silk, plush, reps, cottons, velvets, and carpetings by F. T. Hodgson (1891)
The principles of leather manufacture by H. R. Proctor (1903)
The tanning industry by A. H. Onthank (1917)
W. H. Newby's new tanning process by W. H. Newby (1867)