The Boot and Shoe Trades in London and Paris in the Long Eighteenth Century

A second point that has to be clarified is the complex historiography used in
this thesis. The thesis was not constructed as a piece of economic history with a
strong framework or on economic theory. This could have been possible only if
the sector had already in-depth studies of its structure and transformations. My
main concern has been to go back and discover a series of important facts that
are not reported by the general economic history literature. The research 'in the
field' has been a considerable part of the entire research. I am also aware that
historians are not interested in facts as such but in series of facts and their
interpretation. On many occasiorfthe problem I had to face was to 'get rid' of
facts and details in order to understand wider issues. Two factors helped me in
achieving this goal: firstly the use of a very ion gue duree. Each of my chapters
considers a long period of time. Secondly the comparative frame deriving from
examining two different cities. Important elements in one city could be
negligible in the other. This has created priorities in explanations and in the
material I used.
The economic-history framework used is based on an inductive process. I
tried not to be too technical with the material included and at the same time to
simplify tables and figures, through the use of basic quantitative techniques.
My economic background appears in this thesis as such. On the other hand I
have tried to integrate classic economic history with other influences both from
historical disciplines and from other social sciences. Part of the thesis has been
clearly based on what can be defined as a business approach. At the very start
of my PhD I was told by business historians that there is no business history for
the period preceding industrialisation and the birth of big businesses. I
disagreed at the time and I express even more disagreement now through this
thesis. Pre-industrial businesses can not only be studied but are of fundamental
importance in the development of economic history as a 'multi-level'
discipline.' Business history has not been the only sub-discipline I referred to
when researching and writing this thesis. I soon discovered that broad social
history could not be separated from economic considerations. Chapter 3 on
consumption, for instance, puts together very different branches of history,
On the limits and accomplishments of Business History see a recent review article by M.
Klein, 'Coming full circle: The study of big business since 1950', Enterprise and Society, H -
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