Needlework Book

[richardandtracy]

I am a collector of old, and frequently spurious, knowledge, but occasionally come across a gem. I think I have found one in the form of a digitised book.

In my look through the digital archive of Cornell University I came across a copy of the 1882 book by Sophia Caufield, a 'Dictionary of Needlework'. It is a large download, having 548 pages and the PDF version is 53.8 Mb. Anyway, it's here: https://archive.org/details/cu31924030683829 if you want to look at it on screen or download it in one of a number of formats. I have not read it through properly (having only just downloaded it myself!), but it really looks to be quite comprehensive, and some of the work shown is absolutely exquisite. Thought someone may be interested enough to look too.

To see some of the other digitised old books, have a look here: https://archive.org/details/cornell. The range is from 'A guide to Modern Cookery' to 'Sheet Metal Work' and everything between, touching on subjects as diverse as 'Medieval Hospitals of England', 'Totemism and Exogamy, a Treatise on Superstition' and 'A Treatise on the Law of the Roads and Streets'. Bonkers, but mind expanding.

Regards,

Richard.

[fccs]

Thanks for the links, Richard. There's some interesting stuff there - enough to distract me for hours!

[lavenderbee]

Ditto above.

I love old books. Could spend weeks/months looking through them. Liked the Antwerp Edge - seems interesting - not heard of that & no doubt huge amount of names I have not heard of either.

Thanks for the link Richard. If you do not hear from me for a while you know where I will be

Ooops, just had a scare. Printer has come on, Millie our cat slipped while jumping on to window sill & started it off. She is not amused, sitting there swishing her tail from side to side in a most annoyed manner. No doubt she will get over it

[rcperryls]

Thanks for the links, Richard. There's some interesting stuff there - enough to distract me for hours!

Agree!!

Ooops, just had a scare. Printer has come on, Millie our cat slipped while jumping on to window sill & started it off. She is not amused, sitting there swishing her tail from side to side in a most annoyed manner. No doubt she will get over it

Are you sure she wasn't trying to print something, for eg. a guide to Egyptian Cat Worship??

Carole

[lavenderbee]

That made me laugh Carole, Very Droll. Of course she could have been looking up to see if Egyptian Cats ever played 'cat's cradle'!

Millie is on window sill again looking at rain running down windows & trees opposite blowing wildly. Very windy up to tomorrow night we've been told. And to cap it all only the SE UK to get warm weather later on, we just miss out. Richard's cat will be basking in the sun in a deckchair along with parasol, cool drink with a long straw - oh forgot sun glasses too

[Allyn]

Thank you for sharing! Oh! I can download a Kindle version! Awesome!

[richardandtracy]

Oh dear. All my fleabags spent the evening glaring at me: I had failed utterly to make the weather more cat friendly yesterday, and needed to be made pay. It's worse now, a howling gale and the cats are sitting out in it, getting their fur ruffled, glaring in through the windows. The want to be out, won't come in even when the doors are opened, but also want the weather to be changed. The fact it hasn't, is my fault, they tell me.

I must admit I found quite a few other books to download and spent several hours downloading other books.
My eldest daughter is a history buff, hopefully will be taking a degree in military history starting this September. There is an extraordinarily significant book available there she's tried very hard to get hold of in the past called 'Tanks in the Great War', published in 1920. It was one of the books that the main inventor of Blitzkrieg (Sir Liddel Hart) argued violently against because the author was convinced that tanks should only be employed supporting infantry - like mobile castles - and they could have no role in a major mechanised lightning attack. However, Liddel Hart wasn't in the military, and was listened to by the German High Command rather than the British military - with all the devastating consequences seen in 1940.

Regards,

Richard.

[lavenderbee]

Shame on you for not organising better weather for your cats Richard! Hope they are not cross with you today. Amazing they did not come in when you opened the door as cats do not usually like getting wet do they?

Hope your daughter is able to go to Uni & do the course she wants. That would be brilliant. Thanks for info re tanks. Always good to learn something new.

Off to see what Miss Millie is up to now. Heard her come in through the window at the back. Probably to check I have left food for her!

[Allyn]

What a treasure trove. This is day two of combing through the library and downloading books on history, folklore, cooking, and other assorted topics that are all of interest to me. When I did a seach of "needlework" I found several books on drawn thread, lace embroidery and lacemaking. I also found this one on samplers and stitches:
https://archive.org/details/cu31924014066249" target="_blank

Thank you for sharing.

[richardandtracy]

I had missed that one, thanks. If I have one complaint, it's that the archive is so large and it's a little difficult to browse, but what the heck... It repays any effort made handsomely.

Regards,

Richard.

Edited to add:
Mabel, I think that you may be interested in the book Allyn suggested, it includes a section on 'Drawn Fabric Stitches', and seems to be the same type of idea as Hardanger, but possibly extending the idea beyond 4x4 Kloster blocks. It may inspire further designs, who knows?

[richardandtracy]

Quite a few people may be interested in this one: https://archive.org/details/crossstitchembro00wilk. From 1899 & has 60 pages. There are charts of alphabets and repeating patterns - in fact is packed full of stuff that's so old it looks new.

Regards,

Richard

[wendywombat]

Quite a few people may be interested in this one: https://archive.org/details/crossstitchembro00wilk. From 1899 & has 60 pages. There are charts of alphabets and repeating patterns - in fact is packed full of stuff that's so old it looks new.

Regards,

Richard

Wow is all I can say about that!!!

Thanks Richard...I'm going to pass the link to my hubby as he's interested in old American weaponry...he does Cowboy Action Shooting. Maybe there's some books there for him.

[RosemaryD]

How did I miss this??

So much interesting stuff on that site, I will have no shortage of reading material for a while! Thanks for sharing, Richard.

[richardandtracy]

Wendy, If nothing else there is a book on 'Rifle making in the Great Smokey Mountains'...

Regards

Richard

[richardandtracy]

How did I miss this??

So much interesting stuff on that site, I will have no shortage of reading material for a while! Thanks for sharing, Richard.

I've now downloaded more than 500 books and am learning so much...

Regards,

Richard

[wendywombat]

Wendy, If nothing else there is a book on 'Rifle making in the Great Smokey Mountains'...

Regards

Richard

Thanks Richard....that'll keep him busy on this wet afternoon!!!