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hrjI hope to finish up the intake-reviews in two more sessions. This one covers textiles and clothing. The last one will be the “everything else” group. Three of these books aren’t technically Kalamazoo books because I mail-ordered them from David Brown/Oxbow before the ‘Zoo. But I’m counting them here because I would have bought them there if I hadn’t pre-ordered them.
Vedeler, Marianne. 2014. Silk for the Vikings. Oxbow Books, Havertown. ISBN 978-1-78297-215-0
Marianne Vedeler is rapidly joining my short list of “buy anything this person writes.” This is a relatively short and highly focused book covering all aspects of silk textiles found in Viking contexts. The opening chapters discuss a variety of textile finds from several sites, though the presentation does not appear to be exhaustive. The textiles are fragmentary -- in some cases due to preservation issues, but in others because these precious fabrics were cut into narrow strips to use as decoration. The number of illustrations is a bit disappointing -- only 12 color plates of textiles from Viking sites (though there are additional plates of similar textiles from regions that were on the likely trade routes). However these include several that I haven’t seen before, including some close-ups of embroideries. After a brief practical background on silk production and working, the remainder of the book covers the trade, economic, and social context of how these textiles came to the north.
It is likely that most people will find the $40 price tag a bit much for something this specialized (and, to be honest, this brief). The target audience is likely to include specialists in early medieval textile economics, textile archaeology, and Norse costume history.
Hopkins, Heather (ed.). 2013. Ancient Textiles, Modern Science: Re-creating Techniques through Experiment. Oxbow Books, Oxford. ISBN 978-1-84217-664-1
If you follow Katrin Kania’s blog Togs from Bogs then you’ve probably read bits and pieces about the European Textile Forum conferences and the sort of research that gave rise to this publication. This is a collection of papers from academics and other serious scholars who have taken up the challenge of using the re-creation of historic textile techniques to bring understanding to artifacts of the past. The papers include Kania’s extensive spinning experiments; a sort of “engineer’s guide” to possible tablet weaving structures by Sarah Goslee, as well as other reesarchers’ studies of re-creating specific table-woven artifacts; an extensive catalog of Stone Age textile techniques by Anne Reichert; a reconstruction of the Gunnister man’s outfit; and a concluding article by the editory on the Pompeiian dye industry.
As with the Viking silk book, the combination of the slimness of the volume (133pp) and the hefty price tag ($52) puts this out of impulse-buy territory. It is, however, an extremely professional product and several of the very technical papers (such as the one on spinning) go far beyond simply demonstrating the general value of archaeological re-creation in their contributions to an understanding of historic technologies.
Gleba, Margarita & Judit Pásztókai-Szeöke. 2013. Making Textiles in Pre-Roman and Roman Times: People, Places, Identities. Oxbow Books, Oxford. ISBN 978-1-84217-767-9
One of the types of publications that Oxbow is specializing in these days is collections of conference papers on textile topics such as this one. It comes from a workshop entitled “Work and Identity: The agents of textile production and exchange in the Roman period” and includes thirteen papers on both specialized and general topics related to textile production and trade. Both in topics and presentation the collection has a strong “traditional archaeology” feel to it. My favorites included several papers examining evidence (of various types) for the presence of women in textile production, both individual and commercial.
As with the preceding two books, this is meant for a highly specialized audience (or, more likely, for the library trade).
Netherton, Robin & Gale R. Owen-Crocker eds. 2014. Medieval Clothing and Textiles 10. The Boydell Press, Rochester. ISBN 978-1-84383-907-1
Like clockwork, every year at Kalamazoo there’s a new volume of Netherton and Owen-Crocker’s journal Medieval Clothing and Textiles. (This year, there was a cake celebrating the anniversary of the publication.) Articles that caught my eye this time include Maureen C. Miller’s “The Liturgical Vestments of Castel Sant’Elia”, a collection of garments I’d love to have a closer study of (though this article doesn’t include the detail I want); Christine Meek’s “Clothing Distrained for Debt in the Court of Merchants of Lucca in the Late Fourteenth Century” which details a delightful cross-section of everyday garments; and Elizabeth Coatsworth’s biographical study of “Mrs. Christie” -- the woman behind the mammoth pioneering work English Medieval Embroidery.
Miller, Maureen C. 2014. Clothing the Clergy: Virtue and Power in Medieval Europe, c. 800-1200. Cornell University Press, Ithaa. ISBN 978-0-8014-7943-4
Due to my interest in studying the cut and construction of medieval garments, I’ve ended up with a fascination for ecclesiastical vestments as the represent the largest catetory of deliberate survivals and present an intriguingly continuous record of styles (if one that diverged significantly from that of secular garments). This is an extensive study on the purpose and uses of clothing and clothing display in the medieval Christian church. Other topics include the production and donation of vestments. The book is well illustrated, though art is somewhat more prevalent than physical garments. For someone looking for a solid and detailed grounding in medieval vestments, this will be very useful.
Vedeler, Marianne. 2014. Silk for the Vikings. Oxbow Books, Havertown. ISBN 978-1-78297-215-0
Marianne Vedeler is rapidly joining my short list of “buy anything this person writes.” This is a relatively short and highly focused book covering all aspects of silk textiles found in Viking contexts. The opening chapters discuss a variety of textile finds from several sites, though the presentation does not appear to be exhaustive. The textiles are fragmentary -- in some cases due to preservation issues, but in others because these precious fabrics were cut into narrow strips to use as decoration. The number of illustrations is a bit disappointing -- only 12 color plates of textiles from Viking sites (though there are additional plates of similar textiles from regions that were on the likely trade routes). However these include several that I haven’t seen before, including some close-ups of embroideries. After a brief practical background on silk production and working, the remainder of the book covers the trade, economic, and social context of how these textiles came to the north.
It is likely that most people will find the $40 price tag a bit much for something this specialized (and, to be honest, this brief). The target audience is likely to include specialists in early medieval textile economics, textile archaeology, and Norse costume history.
Hopkins, Heather (ed.). 2013. Ancient Textiles, Modern Science: Re-creating Techniques through Experiment. Oxbow Books, Oxford. ISBN 978-1-84217-664-1
If you follow Katrin Kania’s blog Togs from Bogs then you’ve probably read bits and pieces about the European Textile Forum conferences and the sort of research that gave rise to this publication. This is a collection of papers from academics and other serious scholars who have taken up the challenge of using the re-creation of historic textile techniques to bring understanding to artifacts of the past. The papers include Kania’s extensive spinning experiments; a sort of “engineer’s guide” to possible tablet weaving structures by Sarah Goslee, as well as other reesarchers’ studies of re-creating specific table-woven artifacts; an extensive catalog of Stone Age textile techniques by Anne Reichert; a reconstruction of the Gunnister man’s outfit; and a concluding article by the editory on the Pompeiian dye industry.
As with the Viking silk book, the combination of the slimness of the volume (133pp) and the hefty price tag ($52) puts this out of impulse-buy territory. It is, however, an extremely professional product and several of the very technical papers (such as the one on spinning) go far beyond simply demonstrating the general value of archaeological re-creation in their contributions to an understanding of historic technologies.
Gleba, Margarita & Judit Pásztókai-Szeöke. 2013. Making Textiles in Pre-Roman and Roman Times: People, Places, Identities. Oxbow Books, Oxford. ISBN 978-1-84217-767-9
One of the types of publications that Oxbow is specializing in these days is collections of conference papers on textile topics such as this one. It comes from a workshop entitled “Work and Identity: The agents of textile production and exchange in the Roman period” and includes thirteen papers on both specialized and general topics related to textile production and trade. Both in topics and presentation the collection has a strong “traditional archaeology” feel to it. My favorites included several papers examining evidence (of various types) for the presence of women in textile production, both individual and commercial.
As with the preceding two books, this is meant for a highly specialized audience (or, more likely, for the library trade).
Netherton, Robin & Gale R. Owen-Crocker eds. 2014. Medieval Clothing and Textiles 10. The Boydell Press, Rochester. ISBN 978-1-84383-907-1
Like clockwork, every year at Kalamazoo there’s a new volume of Netherton and Owen-Crocker’s journal Medieval Clothing and Textiles. (This year, there was a cake celebrating the anniversary of the publication.) Articles that caught my eye this time include Maureen C. Miller’s “The Liturgical Vestments of Castel Sant’Elia”, a collection of garments I’d love to have a closer study of (though this article doesn’t include the detail I want); Christine Meek’s “Clothing Distrained for Debt in the Court of Merchants of Lucca in the Late Fourteenth Century” which details a delightful cross-section of everyday garments; and Elizabeth Coatsworth’s biographical study of “Mrs. Christie” -- the woman behind the mammoth pioneering work English Medieval Embroidery.
Miller, Maureen C. 2014. Clothing the Clergy: Virtue and Power in Medieval Europe, c. 800-1200. Cornell University Press, Ithaa. ISBN 978-0-8014-7943-4
Due to my interest in studying the cut and construction of medieval garments, I’ve ended up with a fascination for ecclesiastical vestments as the represent the largest catetory of deliberate survivals and present an intriguingly continuous record of styles (if one that diverged significantly from that of secular garments). This is an extensive study on the purpose and uses of clothing and clothing display in the medieval Christian church. Other topics include the production and donation of vestments. The book is well illustrated, though art is somewhat more prevalent than physical garments. For someone looking for a solid and detailed grounding in medieval vestments, this will be very useful.
