Featured Great Lace Book Find

So I saw this book listed by one of my fav sellers with a start of $100. Thought it was nice but more than I could go, so I moved on. A while later I looked at it again and saw she had lowered the start price to $25 so I marked it to bid and did so, and got it. It is available on-line, but I thought it would be nice to have my own copy to flip through and in case the on-line copy got deleted. I got it yesterday. What I didn't do was read the description carefully - I was expecting a normal sized book - 9x12 or so - What I got is fantastic and an absolutely huge 15x20 and 13 pounds. Not a book to grab to have something to read in the loo .

It's title says part 1, but it actually seems to be a bound copy of all 104 plates from parts 1-4 of the 5 part set. After a bit of research I'm thinking they were published in 1920-22 as 4 loose folio sets of 26 plates each and someone bound some sets. So I just need to find a copy of part 5, which has the text to go with the plates and which it seems wasn't published until 1925/6. I found one in Canada, which I may get. Maybe @nothernlightslodge can advise whether it's worth getting?

Haven't really ever been serious about collecting lace, just getting an occasional item I like, but I have been seeing some nice items at affordable prices lately. I may have to start. Let's see...a new collection means new storage, and cabinets or shelves to put it in, which means moving something else, which means a new shed... .

(pictures from original listing)

 

Wow, that sounds like a good deal! I'm tagging @Northern Lights Lodge since the other tag didn't go through for you.

 

Great reference book. I'm a textile-o-phile but know nothing about lace and wish I did..

 

Thanks!

 

Hoooooollllly MOLIE! Am I envious! I am unaware of this one! Wish I had a copy!
What a treasure!

Good, great, phenom find! YOU go girl!!!

Thanks for sharing!
Cheerio,
Leslie

 

I did some checking... looks like there might be 5 Volumes?

Leslie

 

According to this link, there are 4 volumes:

https://www.alibris.co.uk/booksearc...=bookfinder&utm_campaign=na&_ptid=5Nv03vHgBCI

 

Yes - it seems that there were 5 vols. 4 of plates and one of text describing the plates. The link to alibris describes what they have as "4 vols., total of 104 b&w plates, in four printed paper portfolios". The one I got is a hardcover bound book of all 104 plates. The cover is cloth covered bookboard with the title page of Vol. 1 pasted down on it. Very much a library style binding. Likely the person who had it bound did not have Vol. 5. Several sources list it as being published 4 or 5 years after the 4 portfolios, so there probably would have been quite a few owners of the first 4 who never got the 5th one.

The paste down cover, the preface citing 4 vols. plus a text vol., and the fact that I haven't found any references to a bound edition of all 104 plates despite the likelihood that such an edition would survive in saleable condition more often than loose portfolios, all lead me to suspect that this is a one-off binding job, and not a separate edition.

 

That is all very possible! Gosh, seems like a really rare book! Leslie

 

Cool find. Enjoy.