Description
Art of the Embroiderer
by Charles Germain de Saint-Aubin translated and annotated by Nikki Scheuer.
Charles-Germain de Saint-Aubin was designer to King Louis xv. The masterpieces of embroidery he created are in museum collections throughout the world, but his treatise on the embroiderer’s art, L’Art du Brodeur, is the written consummation of his life’s work and craft. First published in 1770, this classic text has been a standard reference for centuries, but an English translation of the work has never been attempted previous to this edition.
Art of the Embroiderer contains considerable material that is extremely difficult to locate elsewhere: informative descriptions of the embroiderer’s milieu; the precise detailing of stitching techniques; methods of assembling, caring for, and cleaning embroidered objects; and firsthand observations on eighteenth-century working conditions. It includes a complete facsimile of the original French edition and an expanded and annotated English translation of the text. The original engravings from Saint-Aubin’s text have been interspersed with the English to increase comprehension of the descriptions and processes. Better yet, all twenty principal embroidery techniques described by the author are illustrated in magnificent full-colour detail, along with lucid commentaries explaining embroidery’s social context and use in the eighteenth century.
Art of the Embroiderer, Charles Germain de Saint-Aubin, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1983
Box has minor shelf wear. Previous owners name inscribed on first page. Very good condition.
