Last week, I had one of those Gee, Why Am I So Dumb? days.
It was the day I showed you my favorite old publication, Embroidery, put out by Pearsall’s in the early 1900’s.
Why so dumb? Oh, let me tell you…
A number of you wrote to bring to my attention the fact that all the issues of Embroidery are already available online, in one complete book, which is indeed how the magazines were later published. There were only six of them published in all, and they were compiled into one book, edited by Grace Christie (Mrs. Archibald Christie – not to be confused with Agatha Christie, who was also married to an Archibald Christie).
There I sat, in deep reverie, and I said to myself, Self, you already knew that. You’ve already written about it.
And not only have you written about it, but you have the book on your bookshelf.
You see, I was going through my old periodicals one day last week – you know, one of those bouts of organization – when I came across that particular one, found myself glued to it for an hour, then I got all fired up with enthusiasm over it, and just had share it with you. I was sure I hadn’t shared it before, because it’s in a box of old publications that I haven’t photographed or scanned.
I was so entranced by the copy of the magazine that I never connected it to the book. It wasn’t until some of you mentioned the online version to me, that the light went off.
The upshot is that you don’t have to wait for me to copy the magazine. You’ll find my previous article about the book, available online to download, here.
You can also find Embroidery online at Internet Archives, where you can download a full color PDF, or browse through the book right on your computer. There are also other formats available – if you have a Kindle, for example, they even offer it formatted for a Kindle.
You’ll find the Opus Anglicanum article in there, along with all the other ones I mentioned, plus all the articles from the other five issues of the serial. And they’re nicely scanned and formatted – much better than I could do for you!
And that, my friends, is that. One of those forehead-slapping moments. I suppose we all have them now and then…. don’t we?
More Embroidery Books by Grace Christie
If you’re new to the whole free-online-out-of-copyright-books scene, you might also enjoy Samplers and Stitches by Grace Christie, as well as Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving by the same.
Some of the content repeats across the books, but all of her books are excellent for instruction. They may not have the abundance of color and images that we have in today’s publications, but the depth and quality of her knowledge and her good taste in general are really unsurpassed!
And now I’m going to go look for my brain…which is probably tucked away on my messy bookshelf somewhere…
Tomorrow, an update on a project that’s been around for a loooong while! Bet you can’t guess what it is!
Like what you see?
If you enjoyed this article and you’re looking for more inspiration, information, and instruction on hand embroidery, why not sign up for my daily newsletter?
There are all kinds of reasons to have Needle ’n Thread delivered to your inbox – check them out and sign up today!
Don’t feel bad Mary. I *know* I could spend days reading the books on my shelves (and computer) and wonder how/when I got many of them, with nearly duplicate information, if not exact duplicate. Sometimes a different format (or file name) makes the content seem totally new to me. What makes sense on the day I put things away doesn’t always register when I am trying to find them again.
Well, Mary, you’ve got rather a LOT of embroidery books, so I’d be surprised it you remembered everything. (I’ve bought the same book twice – fortunately second-hand and cheap – because I’d forgotten it was already on my shelf.) I recognised the pretty cover design. (I also notice they’ve printed that sideways on the cover in the photo above – Mrs Christie must have been really annoyed.
“Samplers and Stitches” is a little goldmine – really useful and interesting.
Hey Mary,
We can remember some things all of the time, all things some of the time, but we can’t remember all things all of the time. I paraphrased that from someone but I don’t remember who.
Georgia
Dear Mary
You certainly are not dumb. Yes I have those moments being the age I am, I call it my Senior Moments ha ha! and I talk to myself. Anyway I will certainly browse through the on-line website books by Agatha Christie, I wonder why only six copies were published. Thanks for sharing the information on how to obtain Pearsall’s Opus Anglicanum magazines and for the on-line website, I am now going to have a look and probably talk to myself while I browse.
Regards Anita Simmance
You can quit slapping yourself now. Honestly, there is So. Much. Information. here that a little redundancy can be a good thing.
Now, go have a nice cup of tea. 😉
Don’t worry Mary – this is the point where I usually say “If I had a Brain, I’d be dangerous” and that’s my favourite excuse. We still love you 🙂 (and I’m new enough to your blog to have missed the earlier review so I was pleased to learn about the book – I can’t be the only one!)
Only one GWAISD day? That must be a record. I am lucky if I get one non-GWAISD day a week. 🙂
Holy headlights, how many Archibald Christies can there be? That name reminds me of the Book Johnny Tremain. They made me read it in 4th grade. One of the silversmiths granddaughters is named DORCAS. That name, and Archibald will likely not be too popular ever again. (Thank goodness)
Hi Mary,
Please don’t think your the only one in the boat. This has happened to me so many times; especially when my sewing room is a tip and I think I have what I;m looking for but can’t locate it so buy it only to return home and “rediscover” what I already have.
Organizing is good for many reasons. lol
ji
What a treasure of a website! I’m eagerly anticipating browsing thru all of it. BTW, for those interested, you can find Godey’s at http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009927606
–THE women’s magazine of the 19th century.