Principles and Practice of Textile Printing

Maroon cloth hardcover 8vo, 1064pp. 3 inches thick! 19 numbered plates in addition to copious in-text illustrations and diagrams; over 200 mounted swatches of various patterns and dyeing techniques on different fabrics and textures. Small repaired tears in the cloth at both spine ends, as from being pulled from the shelf, otherwise Near Fine. Crisp and with bright pattern samples reflective of the evolution in design and material which had occurred since the first edition was published forty years prior.

The first (1912) and second (1924) editions were coauthored by Edmund Knecht (1861-1925) and James Best Fothergill (1873-1948). Fothergill edited the third (1936) by himself but was interrupted by the Second World War. Fothergill solicited the help of J. G. Hurst, who writes in the preface, "the compilation proved well-nigh impossible and a start had scarcely been made when Mr Fothergill died. Since that date I have completed the work, which has necessitated the use of certain illustrative patterns different from those in earlier editions... It is felt that although the book includes descriptions of a few processes of little prominence in present-day practice, yet interesting in the evolution of printed styles, it does not suffer from the omission of the more important principles and practices." The result is a rather extensive selection of printed swatches, some with patterns surprisingly modern and reflective of the burgeoning '50s aesthetic florals and playful geometric motifs.