author
Ethel Beatrice Abrahams
1880–1956
An early 20th-century scholar of classical costume, remembered for a clear and carefully researched study of how clothing changed across the long history of ancient Greece. Her best-known book grew out of a University of London master's thesis and remains of interest to readers of classics, archaeology, and dress history.
1 Audiobook
Greek dress : a study of the costumes worn in ancient Greece, from pre-Hellenic times to the Hellenistic age
by Ethel Beatrice Abrahams
About the author
Ethel Beatrice Abrahams was a British writer and researcher whose surviving reputation rests mainly on Greek Dress: A Study of the Costumes Worn in Ancient Greece, from Pre-Hellenic Times to the Hellenistic Age, published by John Murray in 1908. The book presents a continuous account of ancient Greek clothing and draws on archaeological and historical evidence to trace changes across different periods.
The preface to Greek Dress explains that most of the work began as a thesis approved for the degree of Master of Arts at the University of London. Published editions and library records also identify her as Ethel B. Abrahams, M.A., which fits her profile as a serious independent scholar working in classics and dress history.
Little biographical information about her seems easy to confirm from widely available sources, so the focus today stays on the book itself. It has endured through library collections, archive scans, and Project Gutenberg, suggesting a work that has outlived its moment because it is useful, focused, and still readable for anyone curious about the material culture of the ancient world.