The popular image of a Victorian inventor is of an eccentric, bearded man with hair askew and madly staring eyes. The truth is somewhat different as Deborah Jaffe discovered when she started researching Ingenious Women, her book about women inventors.
As Deborah explained to Corinne Julius an area of particular interest to Victorian women was undergarments and one of the most inventive corsetieres was Madame Roxey Caplin. Ingenious Women by Deborah Jaffe is published by Sutton Publishing ISBN 0750930306
