In preparing the following pages, the author has aimed to supply a want hitherto unsupplied. No work devoted to the wants of the Boot and Shoe-maker, manufacturer, or merchant, has ever been compiled. Able articles upon the “Trade,” statistical statements, and general comments upon matters of interest local in their character, and having particular reference to the state of the times in which they were written, have been published, perused and forgotten. But no work, containing a history of this important mechanical interest, together with instructions in the science of the Boot and Shoe manufacture, has ever been written. The Author does not flatter himself that he has, by any means, exhausted so fruitful a subject, but that he has prepared and compiled important facts and rules, and submitted valuable suggestions which are correct in theory, and practical in their application, he has not a doubt.

Within a few years, this important industrial interest has assumed almost wonderful proportions, and it now towers in magnitude and importance, above all its compeers. New elements have been introduced into the manufacture of boots and shoes, and fortunes have been expended in endeavoring to introduce new methods by which to cheapen the process of manufacture, as well as the raw material. The introduction of India-rubber and Gutta-percha as articles of mechanical use, has quickened the pulses of invention, and has already produced wonderful, and important changes in all departments of the mechanic arts, and more especially in that of boots and shoes. Already have these important vegetable gums, and the thousand uses of which they are susceptible, attracted the attention of the world, and last but not least, we are indebted to the discovery and use of Gutta-percha for the successful insulation of the Atlantic Cable, without which substance, the cable could not have been safely submerged. Establishments for the manufacture of India-rubber, and Gutta-percha, into almost every conceivable shape, have sprung up, as it were in a day. Patents for its use and application, are constantly presenting themselves. Heretofore, it has been the policy of all interested in the manufacture of India-rubber and Gutta-percha, to surround their inventions with an air of mystery. “No admittance” has been blazoned upon their laboratories, and no “open sesame” pronounced by the uninitiated, has succeeded in opening the doors to their carefully guarded treasures.

In this work, we have endeavored to make clear, simple, but important facts, scientific discoveries and observations, which, from practical experience, we know to be of great utility. A collection of the most approved recipes for the preparation of compounds of India-rubber, and Gutta-percha, would alone, make a volume worthy of preservation. But we have endeavored to present all the important rules, practical hints, and observations, necessary to the manufacture of boots and shoes, also an important and economical method of repairing the same.

Herein may be found a history of the discovery of India-rubber and Gutta-percha, its uses and applications, the inventions which they have called into existence, the patents that have been taken out, the “claims” set forth by different individuals, the causes of the failures of many of them, and a brief history of their pretensions. We herein introduce a process of manufacturing boots and shoes, of the most durable character, at about one-half the expense of the old method, by a process so simple that the humblest cordwainer in the land, no less than the wealthy and extensive manufacturer, can at once enter upon the field of competition; but time and experiment will determine the real value and utility of Gutta-percha as a substitute for “pegs” and “stitches,” in the manufacture of boots and shoes.

Particular attention has been given to the application of Gutta-percha, and India-rubber, in the manufacture of boots and shoes, inasmuch as it is a new field, and much interest is manifested by the “craft” to understand its value and use.

Not least in the application of this process of shoe manufacture, is the invaluable benefit to be derived by all who wear thin soled shoes or boots, inasmuch as shoes thus made are impervious to water from the sole, thus allowing the most delicate lady to walk with impunity upon ground, wet by the morning shower, or evening dew. Perspiration of the foot is in no wise confined by this process, as it escapes from the upper portion of the shoe.

The system of cutting Patterns, herein set forth, is alone worth the price of the work, as its simplicity, scientific correctness, and application to every description of boot or shoe, enables any mechanic possessing ordinary ingenuity, to prepare sets of patterns for all classes of work desired. Diagrams, to assist the beginner are explained so clearly, that every important rule is at once understood.

A “Treatise upon Tanning” is also introduced, in which the subject is treated in a comprehensive manner, and compilations from the most approved authorities are made.

The history of Vulcanization, Adulterations of India-rubber, (caoutchouc) and gutta-percha, will be found to contain many important facts and suggestions.

The author is indebted to various sources for many of the scientific and historical facts herein contained. First, to a Boston gentleman of high standing, long identified with the Boot and Shoe interest, for facts in the early history of the trade in New England.

A great number of English works have been carefully examined, and such of their contents as bear directly upon the elucidation of facts, and theories set forth, copied. The Scientific American, has also furnished us with many important facts and suggestions.

All the practical and useful compounds herein described, with a few exceptions, are the results of long, patient, and laborious investigation; also the process of making boots and shoes by the new method, are from actual tests, and personal experiments. This portion of the work, or rather the facts therein set forth, were furnished by a gentleman who has devoted many years to the prosecution of experiments in gutta-percha, and India-rubber compounds. He is acknowledged to possess great practical knowledge, and scientific research in this department of mechanical art.

A general, rather than a scientific compilation has been adopted, so that the work shall be found universal in its application, although addressed especially to the mechanic. All technicalities have been avoided as far as possible, and simple descriptions, and popular terms substituted.

The “Assistant and Guide,” is dedicated to all interested in the great industrial interest which it represents. It is a humble pioneer in a new field, and is submitted with the hope that it may be found a valuable “assistant” to those just starting in the first years of their apprenticeship—a “guide” to such as are desirous of perfecting themselves in the calling to which their efforts are directed, and a “companion” to the merchant, and all who seek for information, in the thousand varied channels through which it flows.