This book differs from most other publications on buttons, in that examples of metal button-like objects and buttons dating between c.900 BC - c.AD 1700 are subjected to a detailed manufactory analysis, each being described both textually and illustratively. Although not foolproof, this information is essential for the dress historian, button collector, archaeologist, museum curator, dealer, or anyone with an interest, seeking to gauge the age of any particular button. About the Second Edition: The popularity of Metal Buttons c.900 BC - c.AD 1700, coupled with an accumulation of fresh material evidence from beneath British soil and the River Thames foreshore in London, prompted the compilation of this revised and updated second edition. Excluding preliminaries, printed pages are now 133, an increase of 28, with catalogued objects rising from 405 to 507, a gain of 102; other illustrations rise from 15 to 17.

In the light of new knowledge, several categories of button have been reassigned. A few of the original buttons are eliminated due to their poor images, while colour photographs and/or archaeological drawings, along with text, describe all new material as well as the old. Among the fresh objects, some are unique in the known record, while others are apparently extremely rare.