OLD LACE.*
Tule "handbook for collectors" is a valuable addition to our knowledge of this somewhat intricate subject. The author says with truth " that the historical aspect of lace has been dealt with in previous works, almost to the exclusion of its technical and artistic side." But now he has given Us a very clear account of the various laces themselves, instead of extracts from sumptuary laws and quotations from old records about the people who wore the lace. We do not mean to depreciate other lace books, but to point out the different ways in which the subject can be dealt with. The historical aspect is perhaps the most popular, but we cannot properly appreciate the almost passionate interest felt by rulers and peoples on the Continent, at the time of the Renaissance, in so slight a thing as lace, unless we know something of the technical and commercial side of the question. Though this book treats elaborately of design and style, the human interest is not wanting, for, if we are not told much of the lords and ladies who wore the lace, we are brought into touch, even if indirectly, with the women who worked it. The illustrations are remarkably good, and are arranged chronologically in each chapter, thus enabling the reader to follow the gradual changes of patterns and workman- ship. Tbere are a few photographs of unfinished pieces, which show the methods of working. Turning to the chapters on English lace, we find that the industry did not flourish here. Fine flax was not grown in large enough quantities to supply the workers profitab]y, and for some reason the patterns chosen were ineffective or else grotesque. Some of the early Honiton and Buckinghamshire edgings are pretty, but the quality of style is lacking in our lace. Perhaps the reason for this is that it was chiefly a peasant industry, while the standard of the Continental work was higher, as it was set by carefully trained and educated women, whose services were recognised as valuable to the State. The book is well bound, a great advantage in a work of reference, and there is a useful glossary and an index.
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