For several years this has been the standard text on nineteenth-century British furniture, which continues to be the focus of an extraordinary growth of interest in the United States and throughout Europe.This exhaustive survey of a rich and rewarding chapter in the history of the decorative arts contains an astonishing range of photographs and drawings: more than six hundred illustrations, many of them in color, offer a uniquely comprehensive look at nineteenth-century furniture from the Gothic Revival to Art Nouveau. Every major designer is represented, including William Morris, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Christopher Dresser, and the choice of pictures includes a wealth of little-known furniture from private collections, much of which has never before been illustrated.A cheerful text enhanced by lavish picture layouts. -- The New York Times

This is a major revision of what is acknowledged as the best general survey of this major collecting area. It is written in straightforward, down-to-earth language and discusses works accessible to most collectors, not museum pieces. The text is lavishly illustrated with clear informative photographs.

On Sarah A. Chrisman’s twenty-ninth birthday, her husband, Gabriel, presented her with a corset. The material and the design were breathtakingly beautiful, but her mind immediately filled with unwelcome views. Although she had been in love with the Victorian era all her life, she had specifically asked her husband not to buy her a corset—ever. She’d heard how corsets affected the female body and what they represented, and she wanted none of it. However, Chrisman agreed to try on the garment . . . and found it surprisingly enjoyable. The corset, she realized, was a tool of empowerment—not oppression. After a year of wearing a corset on a daily basis, her waist had gone from thirty-two inches to twenty-two inches, she was experiencing fewer migraines, and her posture improved. She had successfully transformed her body, her dress, and her lifestyle into that of a Victorian woman—and everyone was asking about it. In Victorian Secrets, Chrisman explains how a garment from the past led to a change in not only the way she viewed herself, but also the ways she understood the major differences between the cultures of twenty-first-century and nineteenth-century America. The desire to delve further into the Victorian lifestyle provided Chrisman with new insight into issues of body image and how women, past and present, have seen and continue to see themselves.

This source book for recreating the style and decor of the Georgian period, covers all aspects of internal and external plan and design, including gardens. It also provides information on how to restore, replace and care for period features.

Is a famous queen of Britain really bured beneath platform 10 at King's Cross station in London? What is the telephone number of the National Theatre? what is the best place to eat in Worcester? Where is the National Bagpipe Museum? (Hint: not in Scotland) Was Pointius Pilate born in Pitlochry? The answers to these questions and literally thousands more are to be found in David Kemp's fascinating guidebook, The Pleasures and Treasures of Britain. Nowhere else will the discerning traveller find so much diverse and essential information about British culture gathered together in one volume. With the author as your witty and knowledgeable guide, take a tour through nearly fifty cities, from Penzance to Perth, from London to Cardiff and Belfast. Each city section begins with a concise, readable history and a guided walk around the town, planned to take in as many of the significant local sights as can comfortably be included. Next are exhaustive listings, including telephone numbers and addresses, of everything a culturally curious visitor might want to seek out: theatre, art galleries, museums, antique markets, antiquarian and other bookstores, restaurants, lcoal fairs and festivals and more. Finally, under the headings of Artistic Associations and Ephemera, each section concludes with an entertaining collection of local lore, gossip, legend and anecdote.

This volume of primary source materials documents the nineteenth-century search for a representative style, and the alternating fashions for interiors that demonstrated the consumerism of the period. Although in some senses every interior is unique so that a style canon may seem to be meaningless, there have been important historical trends or styles that have influenced individual interiors, and these have formed the groundwork from which other styles and tastes have developed and changed. Accompanied by extensive editorial commentary, this collection will be of great interest to students and scholars of art history.