Publisher Description

Textiles have been essential to the everyday lives of all societies. Besides helping provide protection and warmth, they have fulfilled social, cultural, military, legal and symbolic functions, and have been an essential part of the economic activity of societies from ancient times. The Cambridge History of Western Textiles brings together and extends current knowledge on the production and uses of textiles, through the eyes of archaeologists, economic and social historians, historians of fashion and the history of dress, and museum curators familiar with surviving artefacts. The history of all the major textile industries, including wool, linen, silk, cotton and artificial fibres is explored. Processes and technical terms are explained carefully, while the role and impact of textiles in western economies and societies are examined. In sum, the book offers an authoritative account of three thousand years of the production and consumption of textiles in the western world.

Author Biography

David Jenkins is Senior Lecturer in Economic History in the Department of Economics and Related Studies in the University of York, and Governor and Company Secretary of the Pasold Research Fund (that promotes research and publication in the history of textiles). He has lectured in Europe, the USA and Japan and published widely on the history of textiles in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He has a special interest in the wool textile industry, where his major contribution is (with K. G. Ponting) The British Wool Textile Industry, 1880–1914.

Table of Contents

Preface; Part I. Textile Industries of the Ancient World: 1. Introduction John Peter Wild and Penelope Walton Rogers; 2. Ancient Egypt; Anatolia; Mesopotamia and the Levant; the late Bronze Aegeans; the near east in the Iron Age; Europe Joan Allgrove McDowell, John Peter Wild and Lise Bender Jørgensen; 3. The Greeks; the Romans; northern Europe in the Roman Iron Age; the eastern Mediterranean Ian Jenkins, John Peter Wild and Lise Bender Jørgensen; 4. Textile industries of the early medieval world to AD 1000 Lise Bender Jørgensen, Penelope Walton Rogers, John Peter Wild, Joan Allgrove McDowell and Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood; Part II. The Medieval Period: 5 (i) Medieval woollens; textiles, textile technology and industrial organisation, c. 800–1500, 5 (ii) The western European woollen industries and their struggles for international markets, c. 1000–1500 John Munro; 6. Silk in the medieval world Anna Muthesius; 7. The uses of textiles, c. 1000–1500 Frances Pritchard; Part III. The Early Modern Period: 8. The west European woollen industries, 1500–1750 Herman Van der Wee; 9. The linen industry in early modern Europe Leslie Clarkson; 10. Fashioning cottons; Asian trade, domestic industry and consumer demand, 1660–1780 Beverly Lemire; 11. Calico printing in Europe before 1780 Serge Chassagne; 12. Silk in the early modern period, c. 1500–1780 Natalie Rothstein; 13. Knitting and knitware Joan Thirsk; 14. Lace in the early modern period, c. 1500–1780 Santina Levey; 15. Early modern tapestries and carpets, c. 1500–1780 Edith Standen and Jennifer Wearden; 16. Furnishings, c. 1500–1780 Natalie Rothstein and Santina Levey; 17. Dress in the early modern period, c. 1500-1780 Aileen Ribeiro; Part IV. The Nineteenth Century: 18. Cotton, 1780–1914 Douglas Farnie; 19. The western wool textile industry in the nineteenth century David Jenkins; 20. Silk: the Industrial Revolution and after Natalie Rothstein; 21. The linen industry in the nineteenth century Peter Solar; 22. The hosiery industry, 1780–1914 Stanley Chapman; 23. Machine-made lace: the Industrial Revolution and after Santina Levey; 24. Textile design and furnishings, c. 1780–1914 Elisabet Stavenow-Hidemark; 25. Dress: the Industrial Revolution and after Penelope Byrde; Part V. The Twentieth Century: 26. Man-made fibres before 1945 Donald Coleman; 27. Man-made fibres since 1945 Jeffrey Harrop; 28 Cotton since 1914 Lars Sandberg; 29. Wool textiles in the twentieth century David Jenkins; 30 Hosiery and knitwear in the twentieth century Stanley Chapman; 31. Fashion for men and women in the twentieth century Lou Taylor and Fiona Anderson; 32. Furnishings and industrial textiles, 1914–1999 Mary Schoeser; Bibliography.

Review

'... the book is unique in the scope of its coverage coupled with the diversity of its authorship. It is finely produced with some beautiful illustrations, clear diagrams and comprehensible tables, as well as 41 full-page colour plates ... It will be a most useful source of reference and stimulation to many.' Times Higher Education Supplement '... eminently readable ... Just to lay one's hands on this jewel of a book is a wondrous thing.' Journal for Weavers '... the wait has certainly been worthwhile ... the two volumes here represent a remarkable achievement by an international group of textile historians working in museums and universities ... The work is well-organised and scores highly on accessibility ... an outstanding feature is the large number of superb illustrations, many in colour, which enrich the text and will undoubtedly add to the appear of these volumes ... this superbly produced two-volume set is good value for money. It combines fine scholarship which will long remain an essential guide to the subject.' Business History 'This is certainly an important reference work which should be on all good library shelves and consulted by all those with historical queries concerning textiles.' Textile History ' ... a delight ...'. Irish Economic & Social History

Promotional

An authoritative study on the production and uses of textiles in Europe since ancient times.

Long Description

Essential in the everyday lives of all societies for providing protection and warmth, textiles also fulfill social, cultural, military, legal, and symbolic functions and have played a key role in the economic activity of societies from ancient times. This magnificent two-volume study brings together the leading experts on textiles from eight countries, ensuring authoritative coverage of the production and uses of textiles in western societies from the earliest times to the present day. With contributions from archaeologists, economic and social historians, historians of fashion and the history of dress, and museum curators, no other book offers the breadth of coverage of this one, in terms of time period, subject matter, or approach. The book's range and accessibility will ensure that it is a key reference for specialists and non-specialists alike. David Jenkins is Senior Lecturer in Economic History in the Department of Economics and Related Studies at the University of York. He is also Governor and Company Secretary of the Pasold Research Fund, which promotes research and publication in the history of textiles in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Jenkins has a special interest in the wool textile industry, where his major contribution is (with the late K.G. Ponting) The British Wool Textile Industry, 1880-1914 (Ashgate Publishing Company, 1982). For several years Jenkins was a member of Council and Honorary Secretary of the Economic History Society and is a member of the Editorial Board of Textile History.

Review Quote

"This valuable edition includes black-and-white and color pictures of textiles, period art pieces depicting dress and furnishings, and illustrations of tools, pictures from trade publications, and charts. Extensive bibliography. For laypersons and scholars alike. Essential." Choice

Promotional "Headline"

An authoritative study on the production and uses of textiles in Europe since ancient times.

Description for Bookstore

Textiles have been essential to the everyday lives of all societies. This authoritative study brings together and extends current knowledge on the production and uses of textiles, through the eyes of archaeologists, economic and social historians, historians of fashion and of dress, and museum curators.

Description for Library

Textiles have been essential to the everyday lives of all societies. This authoritative study brings together and extends current knowledge on the production and uses of textiles, through the eyes of archaeologists, economic and social historians, historians of fashion and of dress, and museum curators.

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