The Bibliographica Textilia Historiae:
On The Textile Literature
About The Bibliographica Textilia Historiae
A Very Speculative But Brief Note On Textiles And Society
Notes On The History Of The Literature Of Textiles
An Outline of the Textile Literature: The 16th through 18th Century
An Outline of the Textile Literature: The 19th and Early 20th Century
On the Character of the Contemporary Textile Literature
On the Ideology of the Literature of Textiles
ON THE CONTENTS OF THE BIBLIOGRAPHICA TEXTILIA HISTORIAE
General Content and Purpose
Types of Materials in the Bibliography
HOW TO USE THIS BIBLIOGRAPHY: ORGANIZATION AND CATALOGUEING
FOOTNOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES FREQUENTLY CITED
DEDICATION, CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Bibliographica Textilia Historiae is the first and only annotated general bibliography attempting to document all facets of the world history of textiles. When it was published in 1997 in book form it contained over 5,000 titles —printed books and pamphlets, serials, articles and offprints, dissertations, royal decrees and laws— published in all languages, but mostly European, since the late fifteenth century to date, treating all aspects of the history of handwoven textiles, including woven and printed textiles, embroidery, lace, tapestry, dyeing, carpets, weaving and fiber technology, pattern books, and costume, among many other subjects.
It has since been much enlarged and now contains over 9,000 records with over 25,000 individual entries of authors, articles, reviews and books. This enlarged material database has been catalogued with a fully-searchable indexing program and is now available online on this website as a free open-access database, fully-searchable by multple keywords and criteria. For more information and to use the database click here.
The bibliography covers the history of handwoven textiles as an art, a craft and its techniques of production, as well as its central role in early industrial and commercial history, from so-called "primitive" society, through antiquity, the middle ages, and the renaissance to early industrialization.
Each entry consists of the following minimum information: author, title, edition, place of publication, publisher, date, and series title, with most works given with full title pages, collations and descriptions most of which cannot be found in any other reference source or database.
While a substantial part of the bibliography consists of the classic "fine art" textile literature —essentially decorative silks, Chinese, Coptic and Peruvian textiles— published since the early nineteenth century, including the basic works by Charles Cahier and Arthur Martin, Francisque-Michel, Charles de Linas, Franz Bock, Friedrich Fischbach, Daniel Rock, Emil Kumsch, Raymond Cox, Gaston Migeon, Moriz Dreger, Julius Lessing, Max Heiden, Otto von Falke, Alfred Kendrick, Paul Schulze, Isabella Errera and Ernst Flemming, the bibliography is equally concerned with the broader "social-economic-technical" textile literature concerning the production, trade and techniques of all types of textiles, including wool, cotton, linen, and dyeing. This literature includes a wide range of early works by Polydore Vergil, Thomaso Garzoni, Charles du Fresne du Cange, Jacques Savary des Bruslons, Pierre-Joseph Macquer, Jean-Marie Roland de la Platière, from the sixteenth through the eighteenth century, as well as later works by John Smith, George R. Porter, James Yates, Clinton Gilroy, Gustav Friedrich von Schmöller, Georges Espinas, Henri Pirenne, George Unwin, Eleanora Carus-Wilson, among many, many others. In addition, the bibliography includes an important number of general works on Islamic art, especially those treating Islamic woven textiles, embroideries and carpets.
A Very Speculative But Brief Note On Textiles And Society
Textiles have played a very special role in the history of humanity because of their unique and contradictory dual character: they are at the same time very delicate and vulnerable to the natural elements and human use on the one hand, while on the other hand, they are very rugged, resilient and portable as objects of transport.
This latter characteristic has given textiles a unique place in history, especially silk textiles, in the interwoven history of ornament and the history of trade. The perfect combination of costliness, light weight and durability of silk made it a very profitable object of trade (along with spices, gems and other products which share these physical characteristics), and with this trade, an essential means of communication for motifs, designs, cultural values and ideas, as well as the power behind them. In this sense, the historical "durability" of textiles is very similar to that of architecture, but instead of immutable monumental and heroic remains physically linked to a particular place, we have mobile textile fragments.
Although textiles are often thought of simply in terms of clothing (first for protection from the elements and later, for purposes of adornment), and in terms of interior decoration, it should not be forgotten that they have also been an essential element of housing, in the form of the tent (on which subject there is a remarkably small literature), and for travel itself, in the form of luggage, and especially, for sails for wind-powered water transportation.
The intimate relationship between textiles and society can also be seen in the fundamental role it played in the rise of the capitalist system, as the first large-scale capitalist industry (the production and export of wool in medieval Flanders); in the industrial revolution (the mechanization of cotton spinning and weaving in eighteenth-century England); in architecture, as the object of the first multi-storied iron frame building (Bage's flax mill in Shrewsbury, England in 1796); as the subject of the first working-class history (Henson's history of the framework-knitters in 1831); or as the subject of the first semiotic text (Roland Barthes, La Mode, Paris 1963); not to mention that the French word for loom is the same as the general word for profession or trade ("métier"), and the German word for textiles is the same as the general word for material or matter ("Stoffe"), which is also the case for the Dutch word "stof", as well as in English, with the word "material".
Perhaps it is by chance that Christopher Columbus, like his father, was first a wool weaver and wool merchant, but it is quite logical that the Jacquard loom in early nineteenth-century France was the inspiration for the work of Charles Babbage in England which lead directly to the invention of the computer in the twentieth century.
Until the fifteenth century, in Europe, the printed literature of textiles is almost entirely limited to passing references to the textile fibers, clothing and some woven cloth, as textiles were considered as a sub-category of agriculture, in the incunabula editions of the classical Greek and Roman historians (especially Pliny the Elder, Herodotus and Julius Pollux), the Bible or medieval scholars1, as the textile "literature" was essentially "verbal", so to speak. Professional textile knowledge and experience was a private affair, often a carefully-guarded secret, passed on confidentially from master to apprentice, father to son, mother to daughter. This was not only because the need for printing and the diffusion of information was still in its infancy, but especially because of the stratified, "confidential" nature of medieval life. Nowhere was this clearer than with the guilds, textile and others, who monopolized and controlled the diffusion of all types of knowledge concerning the techniques of fabrication of textiles and the other crafts, that could threaten their livelihood, sometimes upon penalty of death. This domination, whose positive side was the attempt to maintain high standards of quality of materials and workmanship, only began to disappear in Europe towards the end of the eighteenth century under pressure of rising industrial capitalism with its need to produce more, more efficiently and more rapidly.
It is only at the very end of the fifteenth century, 1499 to be exact, that textiles were first treated as a distinct historical category in the revolutionary encyclopedic published work of Polydore Vergil on the secular inventions and discoveries of humanity,2 although even here the history of fibers, clothing, spinning, weaving and dyeing are all woven together in a single narrative cloth.
The early history of the printed literature of textiles in Europe only begins to develop as a distinct category in the sixteenth century. It is composed of a number of currents all of which can be considered as variant types of practical guides for people working with textiles, either as professionals in a full-time occupation, or, more often, domestically, as a part of daily household tasks, often performed by women. This early literature, which grows and develops through the eighteenth century, can be classified into five main currents.
The first, and most important, current is what today is called "how-to" books, ie practical guides, manuals, handbooks, or, in modern, late twentieth-century computer language, "hands-on" books. From the early sixteenth century, this included:
- Pattern books for lace and embroidery,3 destined for the moral education and amusement of upper class ladies;
Among these "how-to" books were also:
- Commercial and business handbooks,6 explaining such things as local and regional currencies, weights and measures, local trade practices, etc., which were intended for merchants and traders. As textiles were an extremely important part of economic life in Europe as well as elsewhere, it is not surprising that these works often contain many textile references.7
The second current consists of the edicts, acts, laws, rules and regulations concerning textiles issued by the ruling classes, royalty, municipal and regional governments and the professional guilds. These edicts were invariably designed in one way or another to control some aspect of textile production or consumption, as in the case of sumptuary laws controlling the use of certain types of luxury textiles, often to protect a national textile industry (as well as maintain the "pecking order" at court). Furthermore, there were also laws attempting to regulate the use of certain materials or techniques, maintain high standards of quality, or very often, especially in the eighteenth century, to control the sale, import or export of textiles as a means to collect taxes. Concerning the craftperson and the production process itself, the guild rules and regulations were no less rigorous in their control over work conditions, professional standards, production quality and trade practices.
As part of this second current also can be found the petitions, tracts and pamphlets, often privately published, written to influence governmental policy concerning the role of textiles vis-à-vis the economic interests of a given country, especially import and export policies. This debate was particularly heated in England, first in the middle ages concerning the import and export of raw wool and woolen cloth, and later in the eighteenth century, concerning cotton and the beginnings of industrialization, with a resulting voluminous and important social-economic textile literature.8 This type of political-economic debate also took place in France in the sixteenth century between the silk manufacturers and the silk dealers,9 and later in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, in the very heated arguments concerning the importation of printed calicos from India.
The third current consists of books of descriptions of customs, clothing and habits of foreign and regional peoples, such as Baïf on Greek and Roman clothing,10 as well as books on the professions and trades. Often these works were copiously illustrated. This group includes especially costume books, a huge literature with no less than three major bibliographies,11 but also books of travel and tourism, and descriptions of the work done by different types of craftsmen and professions.12
The fourth, and most general, current is composed of books of an encyclopedic nature, incorporating textile references or descriptions, or brief histories. This included general encyclopedias and dictionaries, such as the pioneering work of Vergil cited earlier; Conrad Gesner, a universal bibliography of human knowledge; Francesco Alunno, a dictionary-thesaurus on the organization of human knowledge; Charles du Fresne du Cange on the middle ages; and later in the eighteenth century, for example, Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie, and the English Encyclopedia Britannica, as well as specialized dictionaries, such as Thomasso Garzoni on the professions; Jacques Savary des Bruslons on late seventeenth century commerce, both cited earlier, and Pierre Jaubert and Philippe Macquer on the "arts et métiers".13 The authorities cited in the late fifteenth and sixteenth century books were usually drawn from Biblical, Hebrew, and classical Greek and Roman sources.
Lastly, it should be also be noted that there were already some scattered attempts at a history of fibers and silk as early as the beginning of the eighteenth century, including monographs by [Peter?] Busch in 1711, Gianfrancesco Giorgetti in 1752, John Reynolds Forster in 1776, and Adamo Fabbroni in 1782.14 There were even two publications in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries on tapestries, but both of them had more to do with their subject matter than with the art of tapestry.15 Nevertheless, in spite of these few works, our knowledge of the literature of textiles from this early period is still very fragmentary, and is in need of much systematic research.
It is only in the early nineteenth century that a literature begins to arise directly concerning the history and study of decorative textiles as we understand it today, moving from a practical, "how-to", descriptive type of literature oriented towards practical matters and production, to that of a "scientific", historical and analytical literature, oriented towards study and appreciation, contemplation and, most important, collecting.
Not surprisingly, these early histories were completely dominated by and linked to the history of liturgical vestments, as many —if not most— of the important surviving medieval and renaissance textiles were to be found in church treasuries, not to mention that many of the early textile researchers themselves were educated within the church, such as Charles Cahier and Arthur Martin, Charles de Linas, Franz Bock, Daniel Rock, Joseph Braun and Eugène Chartraire.
Firstly, there were the works on the history of textiles which attempted to trace the development of textiles, usually based on Biblical, Greek and Roman sources, such as the books of George Porter, James Yates, Clinton Gilroy, and [Jean-Marie?] Pardessus, culminating with Ernest Pariset in 1862-1865, the first full-scale history of silk.16 At the same time, the first history directly concerning the working class was written by Gravenor Henson in 1831 on the framework knitters.17
Secondly, there was the beginning of a systematic attempt to locate, catalogue, study and identify old textiles found in church treasuries, and royal collections and inventories. This research was first especially active in France in the late 1840s, with the work of Charles Cahier and Arthur Martin, Charles de Linas, and the scholarly history of medieval luxury textiles of Francisque-Michel.18 Slightly later in Germany, there was Franz Bock, Freidrich Fischbach, Julius Lessing, Emil Kumsch, Paul Schulze, Theodor Hampe and Otto von Falke;19 in England there was Daniel Rock, Alan Cole and then Alfred Kendrick;20 in Austria there was Josef von Karabacek, Alois Riegl, and then, Moriz Dreger;21 Isabelle Errera in Belgium;22 Raymond Cox and Gaston Migeon in France,23 and Francisco Miguel y Badia in Spain.24
With the discovery of more types of textiles and their technical and stylistic differentiation during the nineteenth century, the field of textile studies became larger and more complex. Slowly, the literature began to branch off into specialized areas, such as Joseph P. A. Rey on shawls, Achille Jubinal on tapestries, Countess of Wilton (Mary Margaret (Stanley) Egerton) on embroidery, Mrs Bury Palliser (Fanny Marryat) on lace, and later, Julius Lessing on oriental carpets, and Louis de Farcy on fine embroidery, among other subjects. 25
But these pictorial publications were not just visual "inventories", they were also intended as a practical means to inspire the designers of textiles and the other decorative arts. These arts were in the process of decay due to the large-scale standardization of the crafts linked to capitalist mass production which were overpowering small-scale craft production, because hand-crafted production was becoming too costly, moving from a "necessity" to a luxury. Many of these textile "color plate" publications —often in large-format portfolios, expensive and beautifully produced— clearly stated on the title page that they were meant to be used by the practicing designer or craftsperson, although in fact they were often purchased by the wealthy collector as well.
This need to inspire the nineteenth-century designer and craftsperson was also a major stimulus in the formation of public collections and museums, itself linked to the growing need to develop and expand public education. Most of the European museum textile collections, general decorative art collections, and specialized textile museums were begun in the second half of the nineteenth century as part of this process.26 Even today, most textile collections are still "study" collections, available by appointment. However, today this is due more to the fact that it is now known that textiles cannot be exposed to light for extended periods without damage and thus most of the time must be keep in dark storage, whereas in the nineteenth century it was probably more related to the fact that the great mass of textiles could be most easily and economically stored in drawers or portfolios.
Although many important textiles came directly from royal, aristocratic or church sources into public collections, at the same time textiles also became an object of private collections as well. Although it is not clear who was the very "first" serious textile collector, the name of Franz Bock, the curator of the church treasury in Aachen is certainly very high on the list, as he figures prominently in the formation of many important museum collections beginning in the 1860s, including the South Kensington Museum in London, the Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna, the Musée Historique des Tissus in Lyon, and the Simeonstift in Trier. It is also very likely that he was an active dealer as well.27
But Bock was not alone; there were other important private collections formed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries throughout Europe, which over time eventually became the basis for most of the textile museums. Among these collectors were Fredéric Spitzer, A. Dupont-Auberville, Carrand, Albert Jean Gayet, Dikran Kelekian, and Besselièvre in France; Robert Forrer, Julie Spengel, Marczell von Nemes, Albert Figdor (1843 - 1927), Alexander Schnütgen (1843 - 1918), and later Otto and Konrad Bernheimer in Germany and Austria; Walter Fol, Leopold, Fritz and Ernest Iklé and Werner Abegg (1903 - 1984) in Switzerland; Franchetti, Salvadori, Giorgio Sangiorgi, Guggenheim, Bertini and Adolfo Loewi in Italy; Francisco Miquel y Badia, Celestin Dupont, Biosca, Torres, Francisco Torrella Niubó, and Ricardo Viñas Geis in Spain; Isabella Errera in Belgium; George H. Myers and the Textile Museum in the USA; and more recently Edmund de Unger of the Keir Collection in England.28
But the stimulus behind the founding of the specialized textile museums in many cases were motivated by other, more "practical" business concerns, one of which was the support and promotion of a local or regional textile industry. This was the case towards the middle of the nineteenth century with the founding of the Musée de l'Impression sur l'Étoffes de Mulhouse, begun in 1857, closed in 1870 and re-opened in 1873, the Krefeld Textile Museum in 1880, the Musée Historique des Tissus in Lyons, after numerous attempts dating from the early nineteenth century, finally begun in 1891, and the textile museums in St. Gallen in Switzerland, in Tarrassa (near Barcelona) founded in 1946, the Museo del Tessuto in Prato (near Florence), the Abegg-Stiftung in Riggisberg (near Bern) founded in 1961, and very recently, in 1995, the textile manufacturer Ratti in Como, Italy with its sponsorship of the Metropolitan Museum of Art textile collection in New York.29
Along with the publication of textile designs, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, there was also the research and publication of royal and church inventories, the oldest records describing, or in most cases, simply listing, the names, types, prices, costs and uses of the textiles owned and used by the ruling classes and the church.30 These dated, written documents, along with the visual information contained in dated paintings and drawings, have become a primarily reference source in trying to establish a history of textiles.
The search for this type of corroborative contemporary historical documentation has since become a very important aspect of the study of textiles in the twentieth century, along with the use of scientific techniques to analyze fibers and weaving structures, the chemical analysis of dyes, and especially, Carbon-14 dating techniques.
The current, mid-late twentieth-century literature, with the exception of the highly technical and commercial publications linked to mass industrial textile and clothing production and marketing, is overwhelmingly dominated by "how-to", practical books on sewing, needlework and lace, the modern-day successors to the noble pattern books of the sixteenth century. These are still so popular that practically every country has at least one publisher specialized in only these types of books.
The other most widely-published type of textile books are basically picture books, sometimes the expensive "coffee table" variety: visual surveys of costume, oriental rugs, and very occasionally, historic textiles, often presented in the context of collection catalogues and surveys. These popularizations seem to have no end, especially costume and oriental rug surveys; the vast majority usually containing "standard" images and attributions, some dating from the early part of the twentieth century.
The more serious, scholarly works on textiles form a very small, but very important, part of the textile literature, as most of this material is published in the form of small-circulation exhibition catalogues, or usually, specialized articles in specialized journals, often museum bulletins, with an occasional conference proceeding or "festschrift" anthology.
The General Attitude About Historic Textiles. Today, historic textiles are not very highly appreciated as the object of serious creativity. One possible reason is that its very nature as a labor-intensive, collective and often anonymous product, is at odds with dominant values of "high art" creativity oriented towards individual "fine art" creative "genius". This underlying attitude is further reinforced by the delicate nature of textile materials themselves, as the fibers and dyes are "used up" as part of their natural historical existence, making them by their very nature less valuable.
The prevailing attitude towards textiles was quite different until the late nineteenth century, when they were still thought of as a handcrafted product. Even though they may have been products of large-scale manufacture and commerce —the Italian or French textile industries were as important to the sixteenth- or eighteenth-century European economy as the automobile industry was to the 1930s or the electronic industry is to the late twentieth century— they still were very much appreciated as objects of beauty and value to be carefully used and preserved.
However, the minor status of textiles is also subject to contemporary, pressures and its position in the hierarchy of the arts is slowly changing, although perhaps for the wrong reasons. Firstly, as part of the constant search for new "collectibles", to use a USA expression, new types of objects to be bought and sold, historic textiles still represent a relatively new, unspeculated-upon family of objects. Secondly, and perhaps even worse, old textiles are slowly being re-valued and "up-graded" from a so-called "minor" craft into the "higher" realm of the "fine arts" with its related higher prices, especially by its presentation as a precious isolated design-object framed under glass and hung on the wall, to be viewed as if it were a distant, untouchable drawing or painting.
In many respects the dominant literature of decorative historic textiles tends to be a very biased, compartmentalized and prejudiced literature, uncritically subjected to many of the ruling ideas of society. The literature of historic textiles can be classified in three broad categories: "silk" textiles, "archaeological" textiles, and "ethnographic", anthropological" or "folk" textiles, each with their underlying cultural codes and assumptions. In general, silk textiles are the products of the important dominant civilizations who write history; archaeological textiles are fragmentary remains of textiles from once dominant (or sometimes, unknown) civilizations, while "ethnographic" or "folk" textiles are textiles made by "underdeveloped", "primitive" and poor peoples or countries who do not write history (and often still are a living and productive culture). Thus, there are no "ethnographic" textiles produced by the Lyon silk industry, medieval Italian velvet trade or Roman wool industry, for example.
The literature of silk textiles is particularly biased because it is based, for the most part, on the types of textiles which have been best preserved, best conserved, best inventoried, etc., over the centuries, which quite "naturally" turn out to be those very same textiles used —or, more exactly, barely used— by the upper classes, royalty and the religious officials, for ceremonial purposes, such as evening wear, gowns, and especially by the church or temple for religious purposes (vestments, reliquaries, banners, hangings), and burial purposes. Thus the literature of decorative woven textiles in general has become virtually synonymous with the artistic history of the weaving of silk, the most expensive and delicate of textile materials, often further embellished with gold and silver, which then, in turn, has become framed by the history of liturgical vestments via the church treasury. In many respects it would be as if the history of the automobile was based exclusively on the remains of Rolls-Royce car parts. To this silk history is added earlier "archaeological" textiles, usually from late antiquity or early medieval periods, especially early Christian-Coptic textiles from Egypt, as well as Peruvian textiles, and more recently, Chinese and central Asian silk textiles, many of which have survived in great abundance, especially Coptic or Peruvian textiles, because of the favorable dry climate or sealed burial conditions.
Because textiles are objects of "use value" par excellence, it is not surprising that they should be used, re-used and eventually disappear more in the case of the poorer classes who use them until threadbare, than with the rich classes who can use them more sparingly and give them more care. Nevertheless it is still surprising that there have been so few attempts to re-construct another "alternative" history of the non-silk decorative textiles, or, at least, a history which attempts to put these two "classes" of textiles into relation with one another.
One striking aspect, for example, is medieval wool cloth, particularly from Flanders, which according to inventories and contemporary medieval literature, was as highly valued, ie expensive, as silk (or fur, the other luxury non-woven garment material). For some reason, this type of textile is rarely treated in the context of decorative textiles. Is this because there is no remaining physical evidence left for museums to collect or write about? Or because it is not decorative enough?
A Small and Fragmentary Literature. The literature of history of handwoven decorative textiles is "relatively" small, being given its social and material importance throughout the centuries. Furthermore, its literature is fragmented into many segregated specialties. If it is compared to the specialized literature on the other crafts, especially the more permanent crafts — the less "minor" arts?— especially furniture and ceramics, but even metalwork and glass, for example, all these subjects seem to have a generated proportionately a much greater literature, as can be seen by consulting any general bibliography on the applied arts. Nevertheless, while we believe that the literature is "relatively" small, if one takes into account all world languages, it still involves many tens of thousands of books and articles, and perhaps could include as many as one hundred thousand works.
This "relatively" small literature and lack of interest is probably a reflection of the status of textiles as the most "minor" of the so-called "minor arts", as mentioned earlier. This underprivileged condition can be seen as much in the budget of museum textile departments —the few that exist—, as in the prices of old textiles in the antique or auction market, or the quantity of new textile books published and listed in Books in Print. With the exception of tapestries, because of their figurative, painterly character and attachment to the world of "fine art" (via the famous artist creators of the cartoons) and direct documented royal workshops and patronage, and oriental (ie Islamic) carpets, because of their particular place in the history of east-west relations, and the fact that the "western" world does not have seem to have had any widespread indigenous floor covering tradition, textiles today are barely taken very seriously except by a relatively small, but committed, community of specialists.
Furthermore, within the broad areas of the textile literature, there are important differences between the types of literature in the sub-sectors. For example, the oriental rug literature, more than any other, has been dominated by the marketplace, especially today in the search for and promotion of "new" types of "third world" tribal weavings to buy cheap, promote and sell dear, with a resulting literature, even when it is very serious, is never very far from this promotional aspect. But this search for "new" material can have its positive aspects as well, as this type of rug literature better reflects the global diversity and richness of rug production, especially when one thinks that until 1945, the serious collector's literature —as opposed to the buyer of floor coverings for the home— was mostly centered on fine court rugs produced in Iran and Turkey.
A Formalist and Conservative Literature. The literature of textiles tends towards a formalism and a conservatism —not only in the sense of "textile conservation"— and is very oriented toward the collecting of objects. It is not surprising that the production of the nineteenth and twentieth century textile literature has been closely linked to museum acquisitions and collections, and the sponsorship of archaeological expeditions. There seems to be a clear aversion to developing a social history of fine textiles; generally its often unstated "problematic" is concerned with the formalism of the "where, when and how" of textiles, locating and dating things, and how their motifs evolved, rather than the "why and what", the social-cultural-economic aspects. While histories of fine decorative textiles may often have the obligatory citation of Francisque-Michel, Otto von Falke, Julius Lessing, Moriz Dreger, Isabella Errera, et al —admittedly early landmarks in the study of fine textiles— we have rarely, if ever, seen a reference, for example to Alfred Franklin, Florence Edler du Roover, Gustave Fagniez, H.A. Manandian, Adolf Schaube or the Kress catalogues, which would contribute to re-orienting the study of decorative textiles within a broader social and economic context.
Although a more socially-conscious literature has developed recently, particularly concerning the study of contemporary traditional textile production, often called "ethnographic textiles" in the "third world" areas of Asia, South America, Africa, and the United States (especially, native Americans), but it still seems that much work needs to be done to root historic textiles within the fabric of social and daily life.
Lastly, the literature is relatively uncritical, or even unconscious, about its own history, about the history of the study of textiles, as there are many areas which remain unexplored or in need of systematic research, as we have tried to point out throughout this introduction.
On The Contents of the Bibliographica Textilia Historiae
Bibliography or library catalogue?
This is the question haunting this bibliographic project —as well as many others on very different subjects. Although this work, which is based on the library holdings and archives of the Center for Social Research on Old Textiles [CSROT], contains virtually all of the important general works on the history of textiles published since the early nineteenth century, plus many earlier works, and is by far the most comprehensive attempt to prepare a general bibliography on the many aspects of the subject, we still do not pretend that this is a "complete" bibliography on the subject in any sense of the word, even though it may be continually getting closer. No national, university or museum library anywhere has every book published, in every language, on all facets of the history of textiles published since five hundred years, even though we believe, as we mentioned earlier, that its "artistic" literature appears to be "relatively" small compared to many other applied art subjects, not to speak of the fine arts, such as painting.
Our intention, however, is not to try to produce a complete compilation of every publication touching on the history of textiles —for the moment at least, a utopic, romantic and fantastic idea— but rather to attempt via the scope of this bibliography to "map out" its broad contours, specific territories and regions, and "locate" its main branches, specialties, and principal works. Hopefully one day these indications could lead to a complete and definitive map of the subject.
Needless to say, all the works in our library have been seen and catalogued by us, as well as all of the additional works drawn from other public and private libraries, with the exception of those entries with a "[CSROT txxx]" reference number at the end, but even these entries have been all verified and cross-checked against several independent reference, bibliographic or library sources.
(2) A bibliography on textiles, or textile-related material, appearing as part of broader bibliography, such as the monumental Creswell on Islamic art and architecture for Islamic textiles, rugs and costume; Kress for early economic and political works related to textile history; Chamberlin, Arntzen & Rainwater and Ehresmann for works on the decorative arts; or Franklin for English-language books on antiques;32
(3) An extensive bibliography appearing as an annex, appendix or footnotes to a specialized textile monograph, for example, Forbes on early textile technology, Silbermann on silk, Turnbull on dyeing, Lombard on medieval Islamic textiles, Hoffmann or Barber on archaeological textiles, May on Spanish textiles, or Seiler-Baldinger on textile techniques;33 or more often,
(4) A general textile bibliography appearing as part of a general textile history, usually an incomplete, sometimes almost random, short-title listing, one of the first being by Gaston Migeon in 1909, and the most extensive being by Schmidt, Geijer and Wilson, the latter work containing bibliographic essays and is the only general introductory university-level textbook on the subject.34
Each of these specialized works, in varying degrees, are important and should be consulted for materials related to their particular specialized subjects. Wherever possible we have cited these works so that the reader can turn to them for additional, complementary or even contradictory information to our entry.
Despite all these important references works, to our knowledge, there is no single bibliographic reference source, whether published, unpublished, library file cards, or electronic database— which attempts to weave together on one bibliographic loom, so to speak, the entire "fabric" of the literature of the history of textiles:
- The history of fibers and cloth, such as wool, cotton, linen, etc., as well as the history of fine, luxury, decorative textiles, such as silk;
- The fine art of weaving as well as weaving as an industry and object of trade;
- The technology of textiles as well as its aesthetic, "fine art" aspects;
ie, the social-economic-practical aspects along with the artistic, decorative and beautiful aspects, which is precisely the purpose of the Center for Social Research on Old Textiles and its Bibliographica Textilia Historiae.
- The cataloguer or collector of books on textiles, especially the librarian of a textile or decorative arts library, interested in the content and physical description of a wide range of books on the history of textiles for purposes of collecting, evaluating or catalogueing; and
- More generally, the cultural, economic or social historian interested situating the history of textiles within the history of the crafts and decorative arts, especially during the ancient, medieval and renaissance periods through industrialization in the early nineteenth century.
General Content and Purpose
The purpose of this work is to critically document the history of the literature of "handwoven" textiles worldwide, especially in Europe and Asia, but also the Americas, the Pacific region and Africa, through the introduction of industrial mechanized weaving, ie the introduction of steam-powered weaving. This was generalized in Europe and the United States by the mid- to late-nineteenth century, but under other, more so-called "primitive" economic conditions, the craft of handweaving still continues today in many parts of the world, although perhaps not with the same high quality of materials and labor as in earlier periods when high productivity was not the predominant concern, and textiles made for use and not for commercial purposes.
Because of the virtually unlimited range of this material and our limited available resources and time, it has proved impossible to catalogue all of the titles in depth, which has resulted in a rather "uneven" description of the works catalogued; some titles may even be lacking a publisher reference, while many others have a detailed collation and annotation consisting of several hundred words. But we felt that inclusiveness was a overriding factor, and that "more is better" at the expense of "uniformity", because any fragment of information could be important to someone and that any lacking information could be included later. In general, however, we have tried to provide more detailed information for those works we consider the most important. In any case, it should be seen as a "work in progress".
Types of Materials in the Bibliography
- Printed books and pamphlets, including monographs, anthologies, all types of catalogues (exhibition, collection, auction, bookseller's, antique dealer's, etc.), university dissertations, political tracts, royal edicts, governmental laws, and compilations thereof;
The works included have been published from ca 1468 (Johannes Nyder. De Res Marcatorium. [CSROT 3300], a theological tract on the morality of commerce and business), through the twenty-first century.
Subjects. The bibliography especially attempts to encompass the history of the following subject areas:
- Textile-related social, economic and trade histories, including guild histories, royal edicts, company histories, sumptuary laws, inventories, etc.;
- The textile arts, the finished textile product, including the weaving of silk, wool, linen and cotton, printed textiles, shawls, velvets, passementries, embroidery, lace, carpets, tapestry, felt, quilts, knitting, tablet weaving, bark cloth, pattern books, costume, biographies, etc.; and lastly,
Although we endeavour to be as comprehensive as possible on all the above subjects, we should point out that we are particularly concerned with documenting the early textile and textile-related literature, and with few important exceptions, we do not make any special attempt to be up-to-date on the late twentieth-century textile literature, which is followed regularly by some active textile associations, such as the Textile Society of America.
AUTHOR LAST NAME, First name. Title. Subtitle. Edition. Volumes. Place of Publication: Publisher, Date. [CSROT Number].
- Volumes (with subtitles).
- "Series title" number.
- 1st edition or publication (if not the edition catalogued here).
- Collation: Pages. Size (width x height; in centimeters). Our binding. Illustrations; Plates; Maps; Charts, Tables; etc. Special edition information.
- Annotation (What, Where and When; Illustrative matter).
- Other editions or directly related works.
- Author biographical information.
- Our copy: specific characteristics of our copy, or if not our copy, the place and shelfmark of copy catalogued
Alphabetization. All entries are alphabetized by author, then title, by word, not letter. Titles are alphabetized by first word other than an article or preposition, according to the rules of the language concerned. For purposes of alphabetization, the "Ä" is treated as "AE", the "Ö" as "OE", and the "Ü" as "UE".
The first letter of all the words in the proper names of organizations, institutions, publishers, etc., in all languages, however, are all capitalized as in English spelling. Otherwise, spelling rules follow that of the language concerned.
Abbreviations. Wherever possible, we have used abbreviations to make reading and browsing as easy and quick as possible, being given the wealth —and sometimes, quite frankly, the repetitiveness— of the information. Although most of the abbreviations used are standard, a complete list will be found below under "Abbreviations".
The abbreviations used for countries, and the 50 states of the United States, follow standard international postal codes, unless noted otherwise noted in the abbreviations.
Transliterations. Wherever possible, all works in non-western languages, such as Cyrillic, Greek, Japanese and Chinese, have been transliterated using English phonetic spelling. When this has not been possible, we have simply noted the language in brackets, ie "[Russian title]", and have provided a translation or description of the contents; this has occasionally been done when there is a parallel title in a western European language. This lacking information will be provided in the future.
Authors. Family names of authors are given in CAPITALS. Wherever possible, we have given priority to individual authors or editors, when known, over corporative, collective or institutional authors. Even when we are not sure of an author, we have always tried to provide a name in brackets with a question mark, ie "[SMITH, John?]". This is also the case for dates and places of publication. Sometimes this information is provided with a reference to another bibliographic source.
Anonymous works without any known individual or collective author are catalogued alphabetically by title. We do not consider Mr or Mrs Anonymous as an author. Occasionally, we have considered the publisher as an author, especially in the case of some pre-nineteenth century works, and pictorial surveys or "color plate" books, such as, for example, Henri ERNST, who published many portfolios of beautiful stencil (pochoir)-colored textile illustrations in Paris during the 1920s.
In some cases we have provided a "See:" or "See Also:" reference for authors or works with variant names (usually married names), spellings, pseudonyms or titles.
The authors of early works are given in their vernacular, not in their Latin spelling, wherever possible, ie Baïf not Bayfius, Vergil not Vergilius, Ferrari not Ferrarius, etc., but variant spellings are often given whenever possible ("Also known as:") as part of the annotation.
Collations. We have attempted to provide detailed descriptions of pages and editions, as this is important information for catalogueing —in some cases, identifying— and determining if a book is complete, especially pre-nineteenth-century works.
Likewise for detailed descriptions of visual matter: line illustrations, engravings, black and white illustrations, color illustrations and plates, maps, tables, etc., as this type of information is often needed by the textile researcher to determine if the work in question has enough visual information to make it worth searching out and consulting.
Plates refer to a full page of illustrated matter with a caption, whereas illustration refers to an illustration on a page consisting primarily of text.
Format sizes are given in centimeters, width x height, contrary to standard practice, and special edition information is also provided whenever possible.
All volume and series numbers are given in Arabic numerals, unless this could lead to confusion, in which case, the original Roman numerals are used. However, Roman numerals are always used when they appear as the publication date on the title pages of early books or as part of a title or subtitle.
Descriptions and Annotations. We have provided for virtually all the entries the minimum bibliographic data of author, title, sub-title, place and date of publication, but most works are given far more detailed descriptions, especially works we consider to be of particular importance.
Annotations are intended to be as descriptive as possible and get the reader directly into the heart of the work by listing, summarizing or describing the contents of the work, especially concerning the type of textiles involved. At very least, we have tried to provide the "what, where and when" of a work concerning the (1) general type of work (exhibition catalogue, dissertation, report, etc); (2) the subject of the work (what type of textiles, from which country or region, and the historic period treated); and (3) the amount of textiles described and shown. Furthermore, we have always tried to indicate whether the work contains footnotes, bibliography, glossary, indexes or special illustrative or appendix matter.
Furthermore, at the beginning and end of many entries we have also included our personal subjective opinion of the work, ranging from such laudatory descriptions such as "authoritative", "encyclopedic", "comprehensive", "exhaustive", "systematic", "major work", etc., to more neutral phrases such as "a scholarly study", "a history and description of", "an introductory", "a pictorial survey", "a general introduction", etc.
However, we have usually not annotated a work whose title clearly describes its contents; this is often the case, for example, with royal edicts and governmental laws.
Editions. All works are first editions unless otherwise indicated. However, if our edition is not the first edition, in virtually all cases we have provided the date of the first edition, as well as the place and publisher if not the same as in the edition of the work catalogued.
References. References to other specialized bibliographies have been provided wherever possible, at the end of the entry in an abbreviated form. In general, we have systematically tried to provide references to the Bibliotheca Tinctoria (BT) for early works on dyeing, Creswell (CRES) for Islamic-related material, COLAS for costume, Chamberlin (GARB) and Arntzen-Rainwater (GLAH) for applied arts titles, Ferguson (FERG) for early books on science and technology, Franklin (FRAN) for English-language books on the crafts, antiques and collecting, Lipperheide (LIPP) for early books on costume and textiles, Lotz (LOTZ) for early lace and embroidery pattern books, and occasionally, Sestay (SEST) for modern "how-to" books on embroidery, and Enay & Azadi ((E&A) and O'Bannon (ORB) for recent rug publications. The complete references to which these abbreviations refer can be below under "Bibliographic References".
Titles of Early Books. In the case of books published between the fifteenth and early nineteenth century, wherever possible, titles are given a close typographic transcription of the complete title page, including capitals, italics and boldface characters. For most works, volume subtitles, collations and annotations are also provided.
Analytical Entries. We have included many analytical entries, articles, extracts and offprints, as these are a very important component of the textile literature, especially for highly specialized, as well as for early, textile studies. A single, individual article published in a review or anthology is catalogued by its author, whereas multiple articles published in a review or anthology are catalogued under the title of the review or the editor of the anthology.
Anthologies and Reviews. Wherever possible, we have tried to provide the author and title of all relevant textile texts appearing as part of a review or anthology.
Belgium is given here as being synonymous with Flanders, of which it was, in fact, only part along with northern France. Furthermore, Iran is used instead of Persia, and Turkey is usually used instead of "Asia Minor" or "Anatolia". Although the term "middle east" is used frequently here as well as elsewhere as a means to link Asia to the Mediterranean region and Europe, it should be kept in mind that this region also refers to "western Asia".
Collection Catalogues. The institution or private individual owning the collection will be considered a second author, after the name of the individual author or editor, if the institution's name does not appear elsewhere in the entry.
Auction Catalogues. General auction catalogues without a clear author, editor or collection name, are catalogued under the name of the auction house, then date of auction, regardless of title.
Footnotes
1. For some elements of this history through the middle ages, see the references in Charles Singer. The Earliest Chemical Industry. An Essay in the Historical Relations of Economics & Technology Illustrated from the Alum Trade. London 1948 [CSROT 2422], p308-22; and the references in the introduction by Benjamin A. Rifkin on the early literature of the crafts, in Hans Sachs and Yost Amman. The Book of Trades. New York 1973 [CSROT 2739], p ix-xlviii.
2. Polydore Vergil (Urbino, ca 1470 - 1555). De Inventoribus Rerum. Libri Tres. Venice: Christophorus de Pensis de Mandello, 31 Aug 1499. In the third part of this work there is a section on the history of fibers and weaving, which in our opinion is the first attempt to outline the history of textiles.
3. The basic bibliography of this literature is by Arthur Lotz. Bibliographie der Modelbücher. Stuttgart 1933. It was reprinted in 1963 [CSROT 1157].
4. See the bibliography by John Ferguson. Bibliographical Notes on Histories of Inventions and Books of Secrets. London 1981 [CSROT 2900]; this was first published separately as a series of articles between 1882 - 1911.
5. The major eighteenth-century project on this subject was initiated by the French Académie Royale des Sciences, entitled the "Descriptions des arts et métiers", a series of publications which included about 15 volumes on textiles, dyeing and clothing; for a detailed history and description see: Arthur H. Cole; George B. Watts. The Handicrafts of France as Recorded in the Descriptions des arts et métiers 1761 - 1788. Boston 1952 [CSROT 2489].
6. See, for example, the monumental work of Jacques Savary des Bruslons. Dictionnaire Universel de Commerce. Paris 1723-1730 [CSROT 781], published in many editions and translations; as well as the numerous works of Paul Jakob Marperger cited in the 4-volume The Kress Library of Business and Economics. Catalogue. Boston 1940-1957 [CSROT 2536].
7. See especially Jean Michel Benaven. Le Caissier Italien. [Lyon?] 1787-1789 [CSROT 3271], who in describing the currency and commercial practices of each locality also included the name and standard measure of its local cloth product.
8. See, for example, the historical entries in the bibliography in volume 3 of W. Cunnington. The Growth of English Industry and Commerce. Cambridge 1915-1917 [CSROT 2040], as well as the many scattered entries throughout the 4-volume The Kress Library of Business and Economics. Catalogue. Boston 1940-1957 [CSROT 2536].
9. See in this work: FRANCE. LYON. Moyens des prévost des marchands et eschevins de la ville de Lyon. [Lyon? ca 1597-1598?] [CSROT 857].
10. Lazare Baïf (1496? - 1547). Lazari Bayfii Viri Doctissimi Commentarius de Vestium Generibus & Vocabulis. [ca 1530?] [CSROT 4300]. The 1535 version edited by Estienne is considered to be one of the very first books written expressly for children.
11. See René Colas. Bibliographie Générale du Costume et de la Mode. Paris 1933 [CSROT 3510]; Hiliare and Meyer Hiler. Bibliography of Costume. A Dictionary Catalog of About Eight Thousand Books and Periodicals. 1939; reprinted 1994? [CSROT 4326]; and Katalog der Freiherrlich von Lipperheid'schen Kostümbibliothek. Berlin 1896-1905, revised and enlarged by Eva Nienholdt and Gretel Wagner-Neumann. Katalog der Lipperheideschen Kostümbibliothek. Berlin 1965 [CSROT 3413].
12. See, for example, the illustrated published work of Hans Sachs and Yost Amman. The Book of Trades. New York 1973 [CSROT 2739], first published as Eygentliche Beschreibung Aller Stände auff Erden, Frankfurt 1568; Wilhelm Treue, ed. Das Hausbuch der Mendelschen Zwölfbrüderstiftung zu Nürnberg. Deutsche Handwerkerbilder des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts. Munich 1965 [CSROT 4072], a late medieval illustrated manuscript; and the comprehensive verbal description by Thomasso Garzoni. La Piazza Universale di Tutte le Professioni del Mondo. Venice [1592] [CSROT 3749], first published in 1585.
13. Conrad Gesner. Pandectarvm Sive Partitionum Universalium. Zurich 1548 [CSROT x5079]; Francesco Alunno. Della Fabrica del Mondo. Venice 1588 [CSROT 2073], first edition 1548; Charles du Fresne Du Cange. Glossarium ad Scriptores Mediae & Infimae Latinitatis. Paris 1678 [CSROT 2096]; Denis Diderot and Jean de Rond d'Alembert; Jacques Proust. L'encyclopédie Diderot et d'Alembert. Planches et Commentaires. Paris 1985 [CSROT 4799], plates first published Paris 1762-1772; Encyclopaedia Britannica; or, a Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, Compiled Upon a New Plan. Edinburgh 1768-1771 [CSROT 4379]; and Pierre Jaubert; Philippe Macquer. Dictionnaire Raisonné Universel des Arts et Métiers. Paris 1773 [CSROT 2541], first published in 1766.
14. [Peter Busch?]. Curieuse Nachricht Von Einer neuen Art Seide / Welche Von den Spinnen=Weben zubereitet wird. Frankfurt; Leipzig 1711 [CSROT 4850]; Gianfrancesco Giorgetti. Il Filugello, o Sia il Baco da Seta. Poemetto in Libri III. Venice 1752 [CSROT 3221]; John Reynolds Forster. Liber Singularis de Bysso Antiquorum. London 1776 [CSROT 3185]; and Adamo Fabbroni. Del Bombice e del Bisso degli Antichi. Perugia 1782 [CSROT 3217].
15. Charles Le Brun. Tapisseries du Roy, Ou Sont Répresentez Les Quatre Saisons. Paris 1679 (see the detailed study by Fabian Stein. Charles Le Brun. La Tenture de l'Histoire du Roy. Worms 1985 [CSROT 4760]); and John Pine. The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords. London 1739.
16. G.R. Porter. A Treatise on the Origin, Progressive Improvement, and Present State of the Silk Manufacture. London 1831 [CSROT 1959]; James Yates. Textrinum Antiquorum. London 1843 [CSROT 1325]; Clinton G. Gilroy. The History of Silk, Cotton, Linen, Wool, and Other Fibrous Substances. New York 1845 [CSROT 2910], and The Art of Weaving by Hand and by Power. London 1845 [CSROT 4388]; Jean Marie Pardessus. Mémoire sur le Commerce de la Soie chez les Anciens Antérieurement au VIe Siècle de l'Ère Chrétienne. Paris 1842 [CSROT 2233]; and Ernest Pariset. Histoire de la Soie. Paris 1862-1865 [CSROT 303].
17. Gravenor Henson. The Civil, Political and Mechanical History of the Framework-Knitters, in Europe and America. Volume I. Nottingham 1831; reprinted as: Hensons's History of the Framework Knitters. New York 1970 [CSROT 2908].
18. Charles Cahier; Arthur Martin. Mélanges d'Archéologie, d'Histoire et de Littérature. Paris 1847-1856 [CSROT 1548]; Charles de Linas. Anciens Vêtements Sacerdotaux et Anciens Tissus Conservés en France. Paris 1860-1862 [CSROT 957]; and François-Xavier Michel [Francisque-Michel]. Recherches sur le Commerce, la Fabrication et l'Usage des Étoffes des Soies, d'Or et d'Argent et Autres Tissus Précieux en Occident Principalement en France Pendant le Moyen Age. Paris 1852-1854 [CSROT 718] (reprinted in 2001 by International General, New York and Amsterdam).
19. Franz Bock. Geschichte der liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters. Bonn 1859-1871 [CSROT 3200]; Friedrich Fischbach. Die Geschichte der Textilkunst nebst Text zu den 160 Tafeln des Werkes Ornamente der Gewebe. Hanau 1883 [CSROT 1915]; Julius Lessing. Die Gewebe-Sammlung de Königlichen Kunstgewerbe-Museums. Berlin [1900-1909?] [CSROT 3000]; Emil Kumsch. Stoffmuster des XVI. - XVIII. Jahrhunderts. Dresden 1888-1895 [CSROT 4124]; Paul Schulze. Verzeichniss von Ornement- und Vorlage-Werken für Musterzeichner und Fabrikanten .... Berlin [1893?] [CSROT x5090]; Theodor Hampe; Hans Stegmann. Katalog der Gewebesammlung des Germanischen Nationalmuseums. Nuremberg 1896-1901 [CSROT 2743]; and Otto von Falke. Kunstgeschichte der Seidenweberei. Berlin 1913 [CSROT 2135].
20. Daniel Rock. Textile Fabrics. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection of Church-Vestments, Dresses, Silk Stuffs, Needlework and Tapestries, Forming that Section of the Museum. London 1870 [CSROT 767]; Alan Summerly Cole. Ornament in European Silks. London 1899 [CSROT 1811]; and Alfred Frank Kendrick. Catalogue of Early Medieval Woven Fabrics. London 1925 [CSROT 218], and Catalogue of Muhammadan Textiles of the Medieval Period. London 1924 [CSROT 1969], among his many other works on textiles, embroidery and carpets.
21. Joseph Karabacek. Die persische Nadelmalerei Susandschird. Leipzig 1881 [CSROT 3150], and Über einige Begennungen mittelalterlicher Gewebe. Vienna 1882; Alois Riegl. Textilkunst. Stuttgart 1893 [CSROT 3082a]; and Moriz Dreger. Künstlerische Entwicklung der Weberei und Stickerei. Vienna 1904 [CSROT 1862].
22. Isabelle Errera. Catalogue d'Étoffes Anciennes et Modernes. Troisème Édition Orné de 1000 Photogravures. Brussels 1927 [CSROT 569], first edition 1901.
23. Raymond Cox. L'art de Décorer les Tissus d'Après les Collections du Musée Historique de la Chambre de Commerce de Lyon. Paris; Lyon 1900 [CSROT 3569]; and Gaston Migeon. Les Arts du Tissu. Paris 1909 [CSROT 271].
24. Francisco Miquel y Badia. "Historia del Tejido, del Bordado y del Tapiz", Barcelona 1897 [CSROT 2427].
25. Joseph Philippe Auguste Rey. Études pour Servir à l'Histoire des Châles. Paris 1823 [CSROT 2626]; The Countess of Wilton. The Art of Needle-Work, From the Earliest Ages. London 1840 [CSROT 2923]; Achille Jubinal. Les Anciennes Tapisseries Historiées, ou Collections des Monumens les Plus Remarquables de ce Genre qui Nous Soient Restés du Moyen-Age, à partir du XIe Siècle au XVIe Siècle. Paris 1838-1839 [CSROT 6206]; Fanny Palliser. History of Lace. London 1865 [CSROT 998]; Julius Lessing. Alt orientalische Teppichmuster nach Bildern und Originalen des XV. - XVI. Jahrhunderts. Berlin 1877, reprinted 1923 [CSROT 2709]; and Louis de Farcy. La Broderie du XIe Siècle jusqu'à Nos Jours. D'après Spécimens Authentiques et les Anciens Inventaires. Angers 1890-1900-1919 [CSROT 129].
26. Concerning the formation of the applied arts museums in nineteenth-century Germany, see the important and unique historical study by Barbara Mundt. Die deutschen Kunstgewerbemuseen im 19. Jahrhundert. Munich 1974 [CSROT 4756].
27. For some background on Bock in relation to the Trier collection, see the text by Brigitt Borkopp "Franz Bock und Wilhelm Rautenstrauch. Zur Geschichte der koptischen Sammlung in Trier", pages 16-25, in: Dieter Ahrens; [et al]. Die koptischen Textilien der Sammlung Wilhelm Rautenstrauch in Städtischen Museum Simeonstift Trier. Trier 1989 [CSROT 5032].
28. The history of textile collections and the formation of textile museums remains to be written, but for some aspects see the chapter by Karel Otavsky, "Alte Gewebe als Sammel Objekte", pages 111-28, in: his Alte Gewebe und ihre Geschichte. Ein Lese- und Bilderbuch. Riggisberg 1987 [CSROT 2161].
29. Concerning the Musée de l'Impression sur Étoffes de Mulhouse, see the text of Jacqueline Jacqué in: Bulletin Trimestriel de la Société Industrielle de Mulhouse (Mulhouse), 761, 4, 1975 [CSROT 4571]; for an outline history of the Musée Historique des Tissus de Lyon, see Jean-Michel Tuchscherer and Gabriel Vial. La Musée Historique des Tissus de Lyon. Introduction Historique, Artistique et Technique. Lyon 1977 [CSROT 405], and the early report by Natalis Rondot. L'enseignement Necessaire à l'Industrie de la Soie. Écoles et Musées. Lyon 1877 [CSROT 859].
30. See, for example, L. Douet d'Arcq. Comptes de l'Argenterie des Rois de France aux XIVe Siècle. Paris 1851 [CSROT 1974], and Nouveau Recueil des Comptes de l'Argenterie des Rois de France. Paris 1874 [CSROT 1045]; Jules Labarte. Inventaire du Mobilier de Charles V, Roi de France. Paris 1879; and the material in Victor Gay and Henri Stein. Glossaire Archéologique du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance. Paris 1887-1928 [CSROT 592].
31. Leslie Gordon Lawrie. A Bibliography of Dyeing and Textile Printing Comprising a List of Books from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Time. London 1949; Franco Brunello. L'arte della Tintura nella Storia dell'Umanità. Vicenza 1968 [CSROT 492], which also includes a dictionary, p329-99; and Moshe Ron. Bibliotheca Tinctoria. Jerusalem 1991 [CSROT 3566]; and Marc-Edouard Enay; Siawosch Azadi. Einhundert Jahre Orientteppich-Literatur 1877 - 1977. Bibliographie der Bücher und Kataloge. Hannover 1977 [CSROT 1304]; George W. O'Bannon. Oriental Rugs. A Bibliography. Metuchen, NJ 1994 [CSROT 4599]; Dieter Kuhn. Literaturverzeichnis zur Textilkunde Chinas und zur allgemeinen Webtechnologie. Wiesbaden 1977 [CSROT 2285]; Eugène van Overloop. Catalogue des Ouvrages se Rapportant à l'Industrie de la Dentelle. Brussels 1906 [CSROT 2994]; Gertrude Whiting. A Lace Guide for Makers and Collectors. With Bibliography and Five-Language Nomenclature. New York 1920 [CSROT 2837]; Arthur Lotz. Op. Cit.; René Colas, Op. Cit.; Hiliare and Meyer Hiler. Op. Cit.; Eva Nienholdt and Gretel Wagner-Neumann. Op. Cit.; and Michael C. Howard. Textiles of Southeast Asia. An Annotated and Illustrated Bibliography. Bangkok 1994 [CSROT 4745].
32. Keppel Archibald Cameron Creswell. A Bibliography of the Architecture, Art and Crafts of Islam to 1st Jan. 1960. Cairo 1961, reprinted 1978 [CSROT 1116], with supplements in 1973 [CSROT 1112] and 1984 [CSROT 2199]; The Kress Library of Business and Economics. Catalogue. Boston 1940-1967 [CSROT 2536], with several reprints; Mary Walls Chamberlin. Guide to Art Reference Books. Chicago 1959 [CSROT 3043]; Etta Arntzen; Robert Rainwater. Guide to the Literature of Art History. Chicago; London 1980 [CSROT 4633]; Donald L. Ehresmann. Applied and Decorative Arts. A Bibliographic Guide. Second Edition. Englewood, CO 1993 [CSROT x4882]; and Linda Campbell Franklin. Antiques and Collectibles. A Bibliography of Works in English, 16th Century to 1976. Metuchen, NJ; London 1978 [CSROT 4879].
33. Robert James Forbes. Studies in Ancient Technology. Volume IV. 2nd rev ed. Leiden 1964 [CSROT 958]; Henri Silbermann. Die Seide. Ihre Geschichte, Gewinnung und Verarbeitung. Leipzig [1897] [CSROT 3099]; Geoffrey and John G. Turnbull. A History of the Calico Printing Industry of Great Britain. Altrincham 1951 [CSROT 2419]; Maurice Lombard. Les Textiles dans le Monde Musulman du VIIe au XIIe Siècle. Paris 1978 [CSROT 688]; Marta Hoffmann. The Warp-Weighted Loom. 2nd ed. 1974 [CSROT 1189]; Elizabeth J. W. Barber. Prehistoric Textiles. The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Princeton 1991 [CSROT 4195]; Florence L. May. Silk Textiles of Spain. Eighth to Fifteenth Century. New York 1957 [CSROT 939]; and Annemarie Seiler-Baldinger. Textiles. A Classification of Techniques. Washington, DC 1994 [CSROT x5092].
34. Gaston Migeon. Op. Cit. Paris 1909 [CSROT 271]; Heinrich Schmidt. Alte Seidenstoffe. Braunschweig 1958 [CSROT 360]; Agnes Geijer. A History of Textile Art. London 1982 [CSROT 596]; and Kax Wilson. A History of Textiles. Boulder Colorado 1979 [CSROT 1361], which contains an extensive bibliographic essay and reading list after each chapter.
(Bibliographic Terms; Museums, Institutions and Organizations;
Dates and Places)
Adv = Advertisement(s)
AEDTA = Association pour l'Étude et la Documentation des Textiles d'Asie (Paris)
AIC = Art Institute of Chicago
Anthol = Anthology
Apr = April
Auct = Auction
Aug = August
Bibl = Bibliography
Bks = Bookseller's (catalogue)
Bo = Boards
Br = Brussels
Bull = Bulletin
BW = Black & White
c = Century; Centuries
C = Color
ca = Circa
Cat = Catalogue
ch = Chapter(s)
CIAC = Centro Internazionale delle Arti et del Costume (Venice)
CIETA = Centre International d'Étude sur les Tissus Anciens (Lyon)
CISST = Centro Italiano per lo Studio della Storia del Tessuto
Cl = Cloth (binding)
CMA = Cleveland Museum of Art
CNAM = Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (Paris)
Col = Column(s)
Coll = Collection(s)
CSROT = Center for Social Research on Old Textiles (Amsterdam)
Dec = December
Desc = Described, Description
Disb = Disbound
Diss = Dissertation
Dj = Dust Jacket
Ed = Edition, Editor
Engr = Engraving(s)
Esp = Especially
Ext = Extensive
F&F = Facts & figures
Facs = Facsimile
Fasc = Fasiscule
Feb = February
F/M = Frankfurt am Main
HSA = Hispanic Society of America (New York)
Ill = Illustration(s)
Imp = Impression
Incl = Includes, Including
Intr = Introduction
Jan = January
LACMA = Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles)
Lea = Leather (binding)
MAD = Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Paris)
Mar = March
Misn = Misnumbered (pages)
MFAB = Museum of Fine Arts Boston
MMA = Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
MHT = Musée Historique des Tissus (Lyon)
Mimeo = Mimeographed
MRAH = Musée Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire (Brussels)
Mss = Manuscript(s)
N&BC = Needle and Bobbin Club (New York)
NEHA = Nederlandsch Economisch-Historisch Archief (Amsterdam)
No(s) = Number(s)
Nov = November
Obl = Oblong (format)
Oct = October
Offp = Offprint
Orig = Original, Originally
p or Pp = Page(s)
Pt = Part(s)
Pl = Plate(s)
Ppr = Paper (binding)
Ptg = Printing
Publ = Published, Publisher
r/v = recto/verso (of sheet of paper)
Rep = Reprinted
Rev = Revised
RMB = Rijksmuseum Bibliotheek (Amsterdam)
ROM = Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto)
Sept = September
SKM = South Kensington Museum (London), first began as the Museum of Manufactures in 1852, then became the SKM in 1857, & in 1899 became the V&AM (but was only opened to the public in 1909)
Sl= Slightly
Sup = Supplement(s)
t = Tome(s)
Teg = Top Edge Gilt
UB = Universiteitsbibliotheek, Universiteit van Amsterdam
Trans = Translation, translator
TSA = Textile Society of America
UCAD = Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs (Paris)
Unb = Unbound
v, vol = volume(s)
V&AM = Victoria & Albert Museum (London); prior to 1899 known as the SKM (but was only opened to the public in 1909)
VG = Very Good
Yr = Year
The following is is a short-title list of publications which have been frequently cited throughout our bibliography, usually at the end of an annotation. For a complete description of most of these titles, see the main entries in the database by searching the "[CSROT ....]" reference number at the end of each entry.
- ADAB = EHRESMANN, Donald L. Applied and decorative arts. A bibliographic guide. 2nd ed. Englewood, CO 1993. [CSROT x4882].
- BESH = CHALONER, W.H.; R.C. RICHARDSON, eds. British economic and social history. A bibliographical guide. Manchester 1976. [CSROT 4246].
- BHB = PIRENNE, Henri; Henri NOWÉ; Henri OBREEN, eds. Bibliographie de l'histoire de Belgique. Catalogue méthodique et chronologique des sources et des ouvrages principaux. 3rd ed. Br 1931. [CSROT 4410].
- BM = BRITISH MUSEUM, ed. British Museum. General catalogue of printed books. Photolithographic edition to 1955. 263v. L: Published by the Trustees of the British Museum, 1965-1966.
- BOCH = BOCHER, Emmanuel. Le filet brodé. Technique, modèles divers. Procédés d'exécution. Bibliographie des ouvrages dit à dentelles. P 1911. [CSROT 4303].
- BT = RON, Moshe, ed. Bibliotheca tinctoria. Annotated catalog of the Sidney M. Edelstein collection in the history of bleaching, dyeing, finishing and spot removing. Jerusalem 1991 [1992?]. [CSROT 3566].
- C&W = COLE, Arthur H.; George B. WATTS. The handicrafts of France as recorded in the Descriptions des arts et métiers 1761 - 1788. Boston 1952. [CSROT 2489].
- COLAS = COLAS, René. Bibliographie générale du costume et de la mode. 2v. P 1933. [CSROT 3510].
- CRES = CRESWELL, Keppel Archibald Cameron. A bibliography of the architecture, art and crafts of Islam to 1st Jan. 1960. 2nd ed. Cairo 1978. [CSROT 1116].
- CRES I = CRESWELL, Keppel Archibald Cameron. A bibliography of the architecture, art and crafts of Islam. Supplement Jan. 1960 to Jan. 1972. Cairo 1973. [CSROT 1112].
- CRES II = CRESWELL, Keppel Archibald Cameron; James Douglas PEARSON; Michael MEINECKE; George SCANLON, eds. A bibliography of the architecture, arts and crafts of Islam. Second supplement Jan. 1972 to Dec. 1980 (with omissions from previous years). Cairo 1984. [CSROT 2199].
- CSROT = SIEGELAUB, Seth; CENTER FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH ON OLD TEXTILES [CSROT], eds. Bibliographica textilia historiae. NY 1997. [CSROT 5100].
- DEBES = DEBES, Dietmar. Das Ornament. Wesen und Geschichte. Ein Schriftenverzeichenis. Leipzig 1956. [CSROT 4853].
- E&A = ENAY, Marc-Edouard; Siawosch AZADI. Einhundert Jahre Orientteppich-Literatur 1877 - 1977. Bibliographie der Bücher und Kataloge. Hannover 1977. [CSROT 1304].
- FERG = FERGUSON, John. Bibliographical notes on histories of inventions and books of secrets. 2v. Rep ed. L 1981. [CSROT 2900].
- FABG = EHRESMANN, Donald L.; Julia M. EHRESMANN, eds. Fine arts. A bibliographic guide to basic reference works, histories, and handbooks. Littleton, CO 1975. [CSROT 3450].
- FRAN = FRANKLIN, Linda Campbell. Antiques and collectibles. A bibliography of works in English, 16th century to 1976. Metuchen, NJ 1978. [CSROT 4879].
- GARB = CHAMBERLIN, Mary Walls, ed. Guide to art reference books. Chicago 1959. [CSROT 3043].
- GLAH = ARNTZEN, Etta; Robert RAINWATER, eds. Guide to the literature of art history. Chicago; L 1980. [CSROT 4633].
- HAMB = DÖRY, Ludwig, Baron; MUSEUM FÜR KUNST UND GEWERBE HAMBURG. Katalog der Ornamentstich-Sammlung. Hamburg 1960. [CSROT 4223].
- HILER = HILER, Hilaire; Meyer HILER, eds. Bibliography of costume. A dictionary catalog of about eight thousand books and periodicals. Facs rep ed. Mansfield, CT [1994?]. [CSROT 4326].
- KOSK = STAATLICHE KUNSTBIBLIOTHEK BERLIN. Katalog der Ornamentstichsammlung der Staatlichen Kunstbibliothek Berlin. 2v. Facs rep ed. Mansfield, CT [1995]. [CSROT 4900].
- KRESS = KRESS LIBRARY OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS. The Kress Library of Business and Economics. Catalogue. 4v. Cambridge, MA 1964-1993. [CSROT 2536].
- LIPP = NIENHOLDT, Eva; Gretel WAGNER-NEUMANN, eds. Katalog der Lipperheideschen Kostümbibliothek. 2nd ed. 2v. B: Mann, 1965. [CSROT 3413].
- LIPP1 = LIPPERHEIDE'SCHE KOSTÜMBIBLIOTHEK. Katalog der Freiherrlich von Lipperheid'schen Kostümbibliothek. 2v. Facs rep ed. Storrs-Mansfield, CT [1995]. [CSROT 4905].
- LOTZ = LOTZ, Arthur. Bibliographie der Modelbücher. Beschreibendes verzeichnis der Stick- und Spitzenmusterbücher des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts. Stuttgart; L 1963. [CSROT 1157].
- M&W = MARQUET DE VASSELOT, Jean Joseph; Roger-Armand WEIGERT, eds. Bibliographie de la tapisserie, des tapis et de la broderie en France. P 1935. [CSROT 703].
- NEHA-H = GRAVESTEIJN, C.; J.J. SEEGERS; NEHA. Handel en theorie en praktijk. Amsterdam 1981. [CSROT 3458].
- NEHA-M = GRAVESTEIJN, C.; NEHA. Katalogus von mode- en textielgeschiedenis. Amsterdam 1978. [CSROT 3457].
- NUC = LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, ed. National Union Catalog. Pre-1956 imprints. 685v. L: Mansell, 1968-1980.
- NUCs = LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, ed. National Union Catalog. Pre-1956 imprints. Supplement. 69v [= v686-v754]. L: Mansell, 1980-1981.
- NUCa = LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, ed. National Union Catalog. 1956 - 1967. 125v. Totowa: Rowman and Littlefield, 1970-[1972?].
- ORB = O'BANNON, George W., ed. Oriental rugs. A bibliography. Metuchen, NJ 1994. [CSROT 4599].
- OVER = OVERLOOP, Eugène van. Catalogue des ouvrages se rapportant à l'industrie de la dentelle. Br 1906. [CSROT 2994].
- SEST = SESTAY, Catherine J., ed. Needlework. A selected bibliography with special reference to embroidery and needlepoint. Metuchen, NJ 1982. [CSROT 4632].
- WHIT = WHITING, Gertrude. A lace guide for makers and collectors. With bibliography and five-language nomenclature. NY 1920. [CSROT 2837].
Although we have had not much direct personal contact with other libraries, librarians or bibliographers, as most of the books catalogued here are in our possession and we are rather hermetic, we have nevertheless greatly benefitted from their work from afar, both in time and space, which we have read with the same excitement that other people reserve for novels, poetry or the latest film. This is also the case for bookseller's and auction catalogues which sometimes contain surprising, exciting and unusual information.
In general, however, we have been constantly inspired over the years by the scope and determination of the monumental lifetime bibliographic work of K.A.C. Creswell on Islamic art and architecture, as well as by John Ferguson's detailed scholarly bibliographic studies on early books of secrets, both especially remarkable as they both laboured in the pre-computer era of the pencil and file card.
More close to home, we would like to thank the staff at the Rijksmuseum Bibliotheek in Amsterdam for their courteous help in providing access to their catalogue documentation as well as copies of important books in their library. Also, the Universiteitsbibliotheek at the Universiteit van Amsterdam, for access to their bibliographic documentation. We should also point out the surprisingly important textile book holdings at the Bibliothèque Publique d'Information at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, especially its open access shelves and its opening hours to ten at night, which allowed us to research at odd hours when in Paris over the years.