Umbrellas and Their History

In 1855, a Victorian gentleman named William Sangster undertook the most delightful scholarly project imaginable: a complete history of the umbrella. What begins as earnest historical inquiry soon becomes a charming meditation on the small things we carry through life without a second thought. Sangster traces the umbrella's journey from ancient parasols shading Egyptian pharaohs to the rain-defying devices that conquered London's famously inclement weather, crediting the irascible Jonas Hanway with single-handedly popularizing their use among Englishmen who had previously considered them unmanly. The book sparkles with anecdotes that reveal just how seriously Victorians took their accessories: umbrellas as status symbols, as targets of thieves, as the subject of fierce patent disputes. Sangster writes with the quiet conviction that nothing is too mundane for proper investigation, and somehow his earnestness becomes hilarious. Part social history, part comedy of manners, this is a window into an age that found wonder in the waterproof and dignity in the collapsible.