Nüw Modelbůch, Allerley gattungen Däntelschnür : so diser Zyt in hoch Tütschlanden geng und brüchig sind, zů vnderricht jren Leertöchteren vnnd allen anderen Schnůrwürckeren zů Zürych vnd wo die sind / yetz nüwlich zůbereit, vnd erstmals in Truck verfergket durch R.M.

Nüw Modelbůch, Allerley gattungen Däntelschnür : so diser Zyt in hoch Tütschlanden geng und brüchig sind, zů vnderricht jren Leertöchteren vnnd allen anderen Schnůrwürckeren zů Zürych vnd wo die sind / yetz nüwlich zůbereit, vnd erstmals in Truck verfergket durch R.M.

[Zürich]: [Christoph Froschauer the Elder], [1561]

1 volume ; 20 cm (4to)

This is a PRELIMINARY RECORD. It may contain incorrect information. Please email catalog@folger.edu for assistance.

Switzerland -- Zurich, -- publication place.

273135

From dealer's description: "[TEXTILE PATTERN BOOK] M., R. Nüw Modelbůch/ Allerley gattungen Däntelschnür/ so diserzyt in hoch Tütschlanden geng und brüchig sind/ zů vnderricht jren Leertöchteren vnnd allen anderen schnůrwürckeren zů Zürych vnd wo die sind/ yetz nüwlich zůbereit/ vnd erstmals in truck verfergket durch R.M. [Zürich: Christoph Froschauer, c1561] ONLY ANTIQUARIAN EDITION of the first textile pattern book written by a women, and perhaps the first illustrated design book in any field composed by a woman. The author, who goes only by her initials R. M., states in her foreword that she designed the patterns for the use of her beloved female apprentices and coworkers, whom she had been teaching for twelve years, "here in Zürich," so that they might enjoy a gainful livelihood and have a profession in which they could take pride. Arthur Lotz, the pioneering bibliographer of textile pattern books, wrote extensively in his 1933 Bibliographie der Modelbücher on the importance of the Nüw Modelbůch, in particular its singular status as first such work by a woman (it would be more than 35 years before a similar work written by a woman would appear, Elisabetta Parasole's 1597 Studio delle virtuose dame), and on the extraordinary wealth of information regarding the history of bobbin lace that R. M. provides in the foreword. She remarks that the art was brought to Switzerland in 1536 by Venice merchants, and since then Swiss women artisans had elevated the art and created ever more beautiful designs. (We note with extreme interest that the lace design visible in an Italian painting of the late 15h century is very similar to the Spitzmodel motif found on f. b2 v, supporting R. M.'s assertion that she was indeed influenced by Italian design motifs—please see images at end, below.) Lena Dahrén, in her 2103 paper, states that the designs are actually rather pedestrian—- simple enough for a child to do—-suggesting that they were more likely for cruder linen work as opposed to silk, silver, or gold threads, even though R. M. includes at least one Goldmodel pattern (the ornate template at the top of f. b2 v). R. M. in fact states that the designs are for linen thread, which she asserts couple be cheaply washed with lye, instead of the costlier soap-based cleansing necessary for gold- and silver-threaded lacework. R. M. even provides tips for varying the designs by using thicker or thinner thread, adding bobbins, or varying the design with dyed threads. R.M.'s allusion to economy reveals much about gender roles of the period with respect to the dominant male guilds, the guildadjacent sororities of professional women artisans (like R. M.), and the ranks of nonprofessional women who either wished to learn the decorative craft of making bobbin lace as a genteel avocation, or to beautify their homes. [...] R. M.'s 164 designs—each on a black background, as opposed to contemporary Italian bobbin-lace books, which feature black on white backgrounds—-are named for their figurative features (Sternenmodel, Schachmodel, and so on), and are followed by a Roman number, which represents the spindles required, from just eight for a simple dog-tooth motif, to 68 for a detailed Kosenmodel with an alternating diaper pattern. The handsome title woodcut, attributed to Josef Murer, illustrates two woman in a low-ceilinged room, sitting on stools in the light of two windows, making bobbin lace on pillow supports (the art was also called "pillow lace"); the tiny pins holding the vertices of the intersecting threads are clearly visible. Withal a fine, complete copy of a signally important pattern book, written by a woman, for women, and worth continued study in both the context of the history of design as well as gender roles in a late-Renaissance guild economy. Qto: 191 x 146 x 13 mm (binding); 186 x 143 x 10 mm (text block). a-f4 =24 f. [4] pp, XX ff., [4] pp. 164 woodcuts of designs for bobbin lace on 39 pages. Late 19th- or early 20th-c. maroon morocco janseniste (Hans Asper of Geneva), modestly gilt, marbled ends, two sheets of early 18th-century Augsburg-made Brokatpapier, presumably recovered from an earlier binding, bound in as endpapers. Light wear to extremities, spine somewhat sunned. Interior: pale staining passim; margins a bit precious."

Ordered from W. S Cotter Rare Books, D9822 2025-04-08, email quote.

273135