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German Modelbücher 1524-1556 Preorder

German Modelbücher 1524-1556 : A Compilation of Eight German Needlework and Weaving Pattern Books

A new book by Marion McNealy

For several years I’ve really longed for a good 16th century German embroidery and weaving pattern reference book. I wanted a book that I could look through when I saw a design in a painting, to see if I could find the full design in a period pattern book, and I also wanted it to be a book that I could use when planning projects around a specific date, say “The year is 1532, what designs are available to use?”

While there are a lot of extant pattern books which have now been digitized, they aren’t all in one place for easy comparison, and there is a lot of duplication between books, some designs are in multiple books, and others in just one or two. I also wanted to be able to study how embroidery designs changed over time. Over the summer, I’ve been pulling together and analyzing eight different German pattern books (modelbücher), organizing them by type, style and uniqueness. There’s over 200+ unique designs so far, and I’ve tracked which ones are duplicated in which books, and when they were republished.

The resulting book is a compilation of eight different German modelbucher, published between 1524-1556. There will be an introduction which discusses the books, the different types of patterns, tools depicted, and includes a section of examples of similar patterns found in extant objects and paintings.  Here are a few examples:

Woven brocade, and Pattern

This fragment of a woven brocade stole, dated 1475-1500 is similar in pattern to a band found in Schönsperger’s 1529 pattern book.

Cutwork and Embroidery

This band combines embroidery and cutwork in a lovely pattern, and is very similar to a pattern found in Quentel’s 1529 and 1544 pattern book.

 

The book will be paperback, with color and black and white illustrations, between 240-260 pages, and 6″x 9″ (15cm x 23cm) in size. Preorders will be done through Paypal.

Price for US addresses, including shipping is $35
Price for International addresses, including shipping is $40

Preorders are limited to 200 copies

The book should be finished and in your mailbox by late October to early November 2018.

(Update 9/25/18) Preorders had sold out, but I’m opening them back up to get a significant price break from the printer! 
(Update #2 9/25/18) Preorders are sold out again! Join the mailing list to find out when you can buy it from your favorite store. 
(Update #3 9/25/18) One more batch of 50 is available, and that’s it! I have to firm things up with the printer 

Update 9/26/18: All sold out! The last 50 went in less than 9 hours.  

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • I just opened another 50 two hours ago, and as of right now, there are 30 books left in that batch. Better get one quick!

      Reply

  15. Please let us know if this will be again available. We just learned about it and are quite interested in ordering one as soon as they become available.

    Reply

    • Hi Vanessa,
      Although some international orders have already shipped, most are taking a bit longer, but should go out this week. I’ll update the Paypal transaction with a tracking number when I receive it from the printer.

      Reply

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