Antique Linen Edwardian Drawn Work and Pulled Thread Tutorial Book with Patterns, Publisehd London 1901, NOT a Reproduction! *Free Shipping

The Art of Drawn Work, Published 1901, The Edwardian Era *Free Shipping

This historically significant book opens with a romantic engraving of a young woman stitching a drawn work linen panel while seated before a sunny window in her drawing room. Nearby, draped across the back of a chair, is the nearly completed lacy tablecloth for which the panel in her hands is intended.

The engraving captures the domestic setting in which many creative women learned the art of fine needlework during the opening years of the Edwardian era. This slim antiquarian tutorial taught them the craft.

Published in London in 1901, The Art of Drawn Work is both an introductory manual and a wonderfully comprehensive resource for textile collectors. It was written for the beginning needleworker, yet its detailed instructions, patterns, photographs, and hand-drawn diagrams remain useful and inspirational for anyone interested in antique linens, historic needlework, or the creation of fine textiles today.

Decorative linens often required many months of work. Once completed, they became treasured household possessions or were given as gifts for birthdays, Christmas, baby christenings, and weddings. Drawn work techniques were also used to decorate fashionable linen clothing, handkerchiefs, bureau scarves, towels, doilies, and other personal and household textiles.

Many of the finest surviving examples were carefully preserved because of the loving memories attached to them. A christening cloth, a wedding handkerchief, or a piece made by a mother or grandmother was more than a decorative object. It remained closely connected to the person who made it and the occasion for which it was created.

The Art of Drawn Work begins with the history of the technique and an explanation of the materials, tools, and frames required. From there, it introduces the fundamental stitches and gradually advances to more intricate forms of drawn work.

The instructions were designed to allow needleworkers to select, combine, and adapt individual patterns. There are designs for simple borderwork as well as elaborate lace-like borders, together with patterns intended for fringed towels, bureau scarves, doilies, handkerchiefs, articles of clothing, and pieces traditionally made as Christmas gifts.

The book is profusely illustrated with sharply focused black-and-white photographs that show individual areas of stitching in close-up detail. These images are exceptional for a practical needlework book published during this period. The pen-and-ink diagrams are equally impressive, beautifully drawn and rendered with an almost architectural precision.

The instructions are clear, interesting, and surprisingly easy to follow. For anyone who loves antique linens, textile history, or traditional needlework, this book offers both practical instruction and considerable inspiration.

This is an original edition, not a later reprint or reproduction.

The book contains 128 numbered pages, followed by additional blank pages intended for the owner’s notes. The pages are toned with age but clean, and there is no loss of lettering within the printed text.

The covers are made from heavily textured black paper designed to resemble leather and are secured with the original period metal staples. The title is printed in red:

The Art of Drawn Work

A boxed line beneath the title reads, “Price Two Shilling or Fifty Cents.” Below this appears, “Published by The Butterick Publishing Co. Paris-London-New York-Toronto.”

In very small print are the words, “Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1902 by the Butterick Publishing Company, Limited in the Office of the Library of Congress at Washington.” A United States seal appears in the upper right corner of the front cover.

This is an exceptionally fine resource for a collector of antique linens, a practicing needleworker, a textile historian, or a museum reference library.

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CONDITION:

Overall, this book is in very good condition considering its age and the fact that it was obviously used by its original owner.

The front cover is missing a tiny portion of the lower corner and has a small tear along the lower edge. On the inside of the back cover, two short pieces of early clear tape reinforce a thin tear approximately five inches long.

The binding is not loose, although the original metal staples do not pass completely through at the back of the book. The volume remains stable with considerate handling.

Several pages have small chips or short edge tears caused by rough turning, but all pages are intact. A few pages have isolated areas of discoloration associated with age and the natural acidity of the paper.

Taking these faults into account, I have graded the book very good rather than excellent.

The book entered my personal library of antiquarian books decades ago, when it was purchased from a bookseller. It came with a protective Mylar wrapper, which has continued to support and protect the original covers.

MEASUREMENTS:

This edition is considered rare.

The book is 8vo and measures approximately 8.5 by 11 inches, or 21.5 by 28 cm.