American lace & lace-makers by Emily Noyes Vanderpoel
"The pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria" by of Alexandria Hero is a scientific treatise written in the 1st century AD. It likely explains pneumatic and hydraulic principles through descriptions of ingenious devices—fountains, automata, siphons, and other air- and water-driven mechanisms—intended to instruct craftsmen and delight audiences. The opening of the work provided here presents an illustrated, historically grounded survey of American lace-making: a transcriber’s note, memorial funding page, dedication, and a long,
carefully sourced list of plates crediting makers, owners, and museums. A grateful preface acknowledges lenders and highlights a notable Washington–Lafayette handkerchief used as the binding design. The introduction defines hand-made lace (needlepoint and bobbin), then uncovers indigenous and early American precedents—the Jamaican lace-bark tree, ancient Peruvian examples, and Central and North American Indian laces—before noting a later Native revival via the Sybil Carter Indian Lace Association. It then traces colonial and early national practice, emphasizing Ipswich pillow-lace traditions, the rise of machine-made net and Limerick-style darned work, and a parallel Medway, Massachusetts, effort centered on Dean Walker’s lace machinery. Fashion and education frame the craft’s spread: the vogue for large veils and vivid glimpses of girls’ schooling in needlework through advertisements, diaries, and Miss Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Academy rules. The section closes by citing mid-19th-century manuals that blend technique with moral purpose and asserts the artistic excellence of American lace as the plates begin. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes, 1842-1939 |
|---|---|
| Editor | Buel, Elizabeth C. Barney (Elizabeth Cynthia Barney), 1868-1943 |
| LoC No. | 24028973 |
| Title | American lace & lace-makers |
| Alternate Title | American lace and lace-makers |
| Original Publication | New Haven: Yale University Press, 1924. |
| Credits | A Marshall and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | NK: Fine Arts: Decorative and Applied Arts, Decoration and Ornament |
| Subject | Embroidery -- United States |
| Subject | Lace and lace making -- United States |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 77415 |
| Release Date | Dec 7, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 480 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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