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The photographs don't do this book justice, it's WONDERFUL ~ A most interesting textile document, and that is a 1879 - 1880 working journal/book of a ribbon designer at J. S. Martinet, 11 Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, Paris (googling this did not produce anything useful). The book contains about 200 pages, measures 12 3/8" x 10" x close to 3", weighs almost 6 1/2 lbs. Cover boards are thick cardboard, spine is leather, cover corners are also covered with leather.

When it comes to the ribbons, most of them are silk They cannot be rayon since rayon was patented later, in 1897. Some samples are cashmere, a few are metallic lace. The ribbons were very likely produced in Lyon.

As this definitely was not meant to be a ribbon catalog destined for the buying public, the look and organization of this book is that of a messy scrapbook. The ribbon samples are cut haphazardly and placed on pages with an apparent disregard for aesthetics. In addition to samples, there are pieces of designs printed on something that looks like wallpaper, a few hand-painted ribbon projects, a smattering of pencil or ink sketches, as well as one or two images on vellum.

There are designer's comments written in cursive in French next to a number of samples. They pertain to the weave of the ribbon, satin appears often, sometimes "double face". Colors are frequently mentioned, sometimes changes of the look and very occasionally name of clients for whom the ribbon was going to be produced.

This book provides a glimpse into the design process of the ribbon designer. One of my favorite excerpts is a page on which the designer placed a bunch of Victorian paper die-cuts of insects, then glued some of these bugs to ribbons. Much later in the journal appear ribbons with insects actually woven into the ornamentation - see pictures.

You'll find an intriguing array of textures in this document. Among the samples, I have three most unusual and appealing designs , they are all shown with pencil erasers pointing to them: the narrow flower ribbon with a long, crinkled pink chenille (?) fringe (first picture), passemanterie made of peacock feather tops and an pleated aqua trim (third and second from the end).

The journal was apparently created on top of some sort of a ledger which is dated 1977 and 1878. All journal entries specify 1879 or 1880.


CONDITION OF JOURNAL: Significant wear to cover boards and spine, where the latter is leather. Spine torn at the bottom,a leather piece hangs loose. Many ribbon samples missing, to the point that there are a few empty pages, are cut see pictures. I have numerous photos of the interior, many more than I have room for - please ask if you want to see them.

Sample book 46