A fascinating book in excellent condition, no markings to the text, just a few small spots along the outer top edge of the pages, the blue boards bright and solid, with only the faintest trace of rubbing here and there. The dust jacket, now in a smart protective sleeve, has a few minor signs of shelfwear and handling. For example, the top of the spine is rubbed, there's four small spots of white below, and the top front outer corner is very lightly rubbed and creased. Includes 169 black and white illustrations, and 17 mostly full-page colour plates. In these Margaret Scott points out details that provoke reveries of curiosity. For example, in plate 16, the last one featured in the photos included here, she notes "several depictions of how men deliberately made their dress appear untidy in the 1490s, mainly by wrapping their gown sleeve round their arms several times and not having the sleeves completely joined to the gown at the armholes." Why? Well, as she also notes, "Dress is the most immediate and silent form of expression for prevailing moods in a society, and consequently the most difficult to understand afterwards." But she has a tremendous go at doing so. There's page after page of intriguing displays of knowledge and looking. The looking is important - just as it is (it feels right to say here) at a PBFA book fair! "See what your own eyes can tell you" is the message that Scott says she most wants to get over. Her book is highly recommended.