Description
Book SynopsisAlun Withey is a Senior Lecturer in History, University of Exeter, UK, and has recently completed a Wellcome Trust-funded research project
Do Beards Matter?: Facial Hair, Health and Hygiene in Britain, 1650-1900'.
Trade ReviewAlun Withey's fluent and attractive account greatly enlarges the scope and historical grounding of an intriguing subject which is too often treated lightly. It is particularly valuable for the attention it gives to health, class, race, and institutional practices, as well as for its speculations about change over time. * Dr Margaret Pelling, University of Oxford, UK. *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Section One – Facial Hair, Health and Medicine 2. Medical Conceptions of Facial Hair, c. 1650-1750 3. The Faces of Politeness: Beards and Beardlessness in the Eighteenth Century 4. The Imperial Beard, c. 1850-1900
Section Two – The Practice and Practices of Shaving 5. Barbers and Barbershops in Early Modern Britain 6. Shaving and Being Shaved, c.1600-1750 7. Barbering in Decline? Barbershops and Shaving, 1745-1900
Section Three – Facial Hair, Class and Hegemony 8. The Bearded Classes: Facial Hair and Social Status, 1700-1900 9. Cleanse and Control: The Institutional History of Facial Hair, c. 1700-1900
Section Four – The Marketplace for Shaving 10. The Material Culture of Shaving, 1650-1750 11. The ‘Outward Gentlemen’: Marketing Shaving Products, c. 1750-1850 12. Selling Shaving in the Age of the Beard: Men’s Personal Grooming, c. 1850-1900 Index
