1921 Candace Wheeler THE DEVELOPMENT OF EMBROIDERY IN AMERICA First “Gift” Edition DUST JACKET

DESCRIPTION: Candace Wheeler [1827-1923] THE DEVELOPMENT OF EMBROIDERY IN AMERICA; First [Gift] Edition; Harper & Brothers, Publishers, MCMXXI, CR 1921 [publisher’s code (K-V)]; hard bound [paper covered boards with cloth spine]; 4to. 9-5/8 inches 6-1/2 inches (25 cm.); 152 pages with the following collation, [8] vii-ix [3] 3-151[1] pages; Top edge gilt, Foredge untrimmed; Profusely illustrated with a black and white frontispiece portrait of Candace Wheeler and 36 plates (4 colored plus color pastedown on cover and jacket) with multiple images per plate totaling 66 captioned photographs; The author, “has traced the growth of needlecraft in America from the porcupine quill work of the American Indians on through Colonial day to the styles that hold sway today.”

GIFT EDITION: The dust jacket states, “Gift Books on Art and Artcraft” and “Gift Books Illustrated in Color.” It is clear from the superior construction and design that it preceded later printing copies issued in full cloth. Later dust jackets are lacking the color pastedown.

CONDITION: Book in near fine condition with priced Dust jacket in very good plus condition which has even protected the cover corners and spine of the book from wear. There are two small holes in the folds of the dust jacket flaps and 1/8 inch chipping to dust jacket spine top [see scans]. The dust jacket is unusual in that the same front cover color pastedown has also been applied to the front of the dust jacket. In unusually nice collectable condition

SECURITY: ARGUS BOOKS [or other wording] in light grey may have been super-imposed over images for security and are not on the actual item.

BI0GRAPHIC: Candace Wheeler (1827-1923) Wheeler founded Associated Artists [an interior decoration company] with Louis Comfort Tiffany [of later glass fame], Samuel Coleman and Lockwood de Forest.  Upon the disbanding of this company she was allow to keep the name Associate Artists. Members included: Mrs. Wheeler, Miss Dora Wheeler, Miss Rosina Emmet, and Miss Ida Clark.  Wheeler’s first major undertaking in the decorative arts (the founding of the Society of Decorative Art in New York and its regional auxiliaries) was inspired in great part by her visit to the Centennial Exposition 1876 and her viewing of the exhibits from Great Britain.  It was the largest international fair that had ever been held in the United States and included a woman’s pavilion, the first specifically woman-run exhibit at a world’s fair.  Many of the most impressive objects on display were the products of the teachings of British design reformers such as Christopher Dresser, Owen Jones, and Charles Locke Eastlake. In 1893 she was appointed Director for the Women’s Building at the World’s Columbian Exposition and to organize the State of New York’s applied arts exhibition.

               She emerged as the leading American textile designer of the late nineteenth century by educating herself to match and then surpass the accomplishments of advanced European designers. Moving from embroidery to the design of fabrics and interiors, she wrote influential books on decorating and was a driving force behind the professionalization of women in the design field. She was an important member of the American Arts & Crafts movement.  Wheeler has at various times been claimed as a designer of the Aesthetic movement, the Arts and Crafts Movement, and the Colonial Revival.  In as much as she was creating textiles and interiors over a period of some twenty-five years, she can be described as all of these. But it seems she was never a strong proponent of one particular style over another; ever practical, she found elements in each that were useful to her art or her philanthropic goals.  It is not too dramatic to assert that Wheeler transcended specific style in her goal to create a peculiarly American design aesthetic [Pg. 80 Candace Wheeler (Peck and Irish)].

SHIPPING: Books, journals, magazines, multiple copies or issues, etc. thicker than 1/4 inch are boxed securely and shipped by USPS Media mail at actual cost [unless other arrangements have been made with seller]. [RSL – B1 – S3]