OLD ITALIAN LACE. Volume I. Originally published in 1913. How can we discover the first origin of an art so modest as to be content to remain almost exclusively feminine and anonymous, flourishing in the silence of the cloister and the quiet of the fireside The meek nun stitching at an altar-cloth, or the young mother happy in the preparation of babyclothes and trimming the fine Iinen with the new form of embroidery, were all unconsciously building up the foundation of the History of Lace, and did not think of dating their handiwork. But since there are people who believe the art of lacemaking to be co-eval with that of embroidery, while others affirm that it is of Italian invention and relatively modern, it may be worth while to seek the truth from two impartial sources among documents - inventories, trousseaux lists or deeds of distinguished families apportioning property - and old pictures. Many of the earliest books on weaving, textiles and needlework, particularly those datin

OLD ITALIAN LACE. Volume II. Originally published in 1913. INTRODUCTION: THE two laces of Italy are like two sisters, needle-made lace being the elder and bobbin-made the younger or, to use another figure of speech, needle-lace is the classic tongue of Italy and the bobbin-make is its provincial dialect clear, vivacious, emphatic, sharing the merits and defects of the populace. Our needle-laces are each and every one of Venetian origin, if we except the drawn-thread work of Sicily, which is more embroidery than lace and take their names from the manner in which they are worked reticello, punto - tagliato, punto in aria, i.e. mesh-stitch, cut linen work, stitch in the air. The bobbin-or pillow-laces are described as being Venetian, or Genoese, or Milanese, or of Abruzzi according to the places whence they spring, and it is interesting to notice how tenaciously they cling to the characteristics of their respective birthplaces. As might be expected from their popular origin, they are less

Sharply detailed photographs depict glories of reticello, lacis, Venetian point, other needle-made and bobbin laces 16th 18th centuries. Copyright-free. "