This book covers three main sections: I. Woolen cloth-making in 's-Hertogenbosch in the 15th and 16th century. Technique and organization, II. Chintz and its European successors, from 1600 to 1800; analysis and description of the techniques, and III. The silk trade in Amsterdam in the 17th century. The technical processes in the wool trade are analyzed and described and commented extensively in all stages in the first section. The technical aspects of printing and painting and the chemical process involved in dyeing chintzea are treated in the second section. The third section covers the silk industry in its technical, chemical and organizational aspects. A glossary of old and special terms is also added.