Gaugain, Mrs. [Jane].

The Lady’s Assistant in Knitting, Netting, And Crochet Work; With an Appendix Containing Directions and Remarks for Working in Embroidery or Worsted Work, Raised Cut Work, Tatting, &c. Illustrated by upward of forty coloured Patterns. Volume II.

Original Edition. Edinburgh / London, Published by I.L.Gaugain and Ackermann & Co., 1843. Oblong Octavo (17 cm x 10,8 cm). Titlepage, 8 handcoloured plates with 46 single illustrations of patterns, instructive hand-movements etc. by the author Jane Gaugain, Dedication-page by Jane Gaugain to Lady Henrietta Fergusson, 422 pages with peface, Index of Signs and 185 instructions. Hardcover / Original publisher’s cloth with gilt lettering on boards. Binding firm with endpaper slightly detached but the whole book overall in very good condition with only minor signs of wear. All plates present with beautiful, original 19th century hand-colouring.

Jane Gaugain (née Alison; born 26 March 1804) was a Scottish knitter and writer. She built up a successful business in Edinburgh, Scotland, and published 16 volumes on knitting that helped make it a popular pastime for ladies and a source of income for lower classes of women. Her unusually written pattern books are important in the history of textiles in Scotland.

Gaugain was born in 1804 in Dalkeith, Midlothian and was the daughter of a tailor, James Alison. After marrying English cloth importer John James Gaugain (known as James or J.J.), she worked in her husband’s shop at 63 George Street and helped turn it into a thriving haberdashery.

Gaugain wrote and disseminated knitting patterns throughout the 1830s from her shop and published her first pattern book in 1840. It was called “Lady’s Assistant in Knitting, Netting and Crochet.” She had a particular way of writing her patterns with full instructions at the beginning detailing the meanings of abbreviations. The book was very popular. The book reached a massive audience in the UK and America and was the best-selling knitting book of the period. It ran to 22 editions. Throughout the 1840s and 50s, she published a great many titles. In response to readers’ feedback, she began to produce charted paper and instructions that allowed knitters to create their own designs and began accepting mail orders at the Edinburgh shop. Gaugain died in 1860 from phthisis pulmonalis (tuberculosis) and is buried in Edinburgh’s Dean Cemetery near the Water of Leith. (Wikipedia)

• Keywords: 19th Century – Rare · Art – Rare · Arts & Crafts · Arts & Crafts Movement – Rare · Catalogue Thirteen – Education · Catalogue Three – Literature by Women · Fashion · Fashion – Rare · Handarbeit · Handarbeiten · History of Knitting · Illustrated Books · Illustrated Children’s Books · Knitting Techniques (19th century) · Knitting, Netting & Crochet · New Arrivals · Scottish Culture · Scottish History Rare · Scottish Women in History · Stricken · Textil · Textilarbeit · Textile Techniques · Textile-Craft · Textile-Design · Textiles · Textiles in Art · Textilgewerbe · Textilien · Women as Fashion Designers (19th century)
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 31258AB

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