Over 250 illustrations, drawn in the artistic style of the period, depict apparel worn by Egyptian royalty, manual workers, and military, as well as by ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. Flat patterns show cut of the garments.
What fashion-conscious ladies were wearing 2,000 years ago — from transparent gowns and pointy-toed sandals favored by the ancient Egyptians to the graceful robes and tunics preferred by the Greeks and Romans.
Carefully copied from ancient vases and statuary, these early-19th-century classic line renderings combine unusual clarity of style with unquestioned authenticity. Over 700 illustrations depict all classes and occupations.
Ranging from the elegant garments worn by citizens of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome to the dramatic clothing of nineteenth-century French, English, and German societies, this stunning pictorial encyclopedia chronicles the full sweep of historic dress through the centuries. Carefully gathered from a rare portfolio originally published in 1906, over one thousand detailed engravings are presented here in a continuous chronological format. An unparalleled history of costume design, this collection includes the garb of kings and laborers ... ladies and warriors ... peasants and priests. Scores of accessories are also illustrated, including shoes, jewelry, wigs, and hair ornaments, along with furniture, musical instruments, and weaponry from a fascinating array of time periods. Exquisitely rendered and magnificent in scope, the Pictorial Encyclopedia of Historic Costume is a visual delight for designers, artists, historians, and everyone captivated by fashion's timeless allure.
If this work is to be kept within its limitations, it is naturally impossible to give a complete survey of all the varieties of the various styles. To get this knowledge it will be necessary to consult the works of reference, of which lists are given in each section. On the other hand, the special aspect of the work is more fully treated than in any other accessible book upon the subject. Every illustration of costume given has been actually cut out and made up before being sketched, except in a few cases which are of the nature of duplicates, so that by following the directions given it will be easy for anyone to reproduce them in material. Where decoration is required, the exact drawing and colouring of the various styles of Historic Ornament, which are the work of F. S. Hornblower (who has also coloured the costumes where necessary), will enable such details to be appropriately applied. Throughout the book, the illustrations are given by means of facsimiles of drawings by artists of the various centuries, so that a historic survey of the History of Figure Drawing will be included. Where the drawings of primitive artists do not clearly express the ideas intended to be conveyed, a modern drawing{vi} of the garment on a dress-stand will be used for explanation of the measured drawings of the cut-out garments. The growing appreciation of the beauty and value of the earlier and more primitive systems of cutting shown in modern dress designing for the last decade, when the so-called Magyar blouse (really the simple tunic common to all primitive folk) began to be popular, will make the present volume a convenient form of inspiration for designers; also, where more exact reproduction is needed, as in theatrical work, pageantry, and so forth, the careful working out of the details of cut and decoration will expedite production and save hours of fruitless searching in reference libraries.
The pages of this new book, excellently reproduced from rare copies of Sears catalogs, depict what average American youngsters, ages 4 to 16, were wearing during the first half of the twentieth century. Here, among other items, are Knickerbocker suits from 1914, starting at $1.95; elegant organdy and chiffon party dresses from 1918, selling at an average price of $4.28; boys' cowboy, Indian, and baseball outfits for less than two dollars; aviator helmets, knitted hats, and golf-styled caps, all under $1.00; and a selection of fashionable coats for the high school crowd in 1946, starting at $12.98. A rich social document that will interest a wide audience of social historians and fashion enthusiasts, this panoramic window to the past will also appeal to anyone fascinated by fashions of a bygone era.
Fascinating, well-documented survey covering 6 centuries of English undergarments, enhanced with over 100 illustrations: 12th-century laced-up bodice, footed long drawers (1795), 19th-century bustles, 19th-century corsets for men, Victorian "bust improvers," much more.
These color plates by Hippolyte Pauquet and his brother Polydore, reproduced directly from a rare and valuable nineteenth-century publication, magnificently depict 500 years of French fashion. Starting with the flamboyant headgear and voluminous robes of fifteenth-century royalty, the artfully rendered illustrations progress chronologically to the high-waisted Empire styles of the Napoleonic era. Members of the nobility and upper classes are well represented here. Portraits of lavishly garbed court ladies and gentlemen--many in fur-trimmed robes--appear next to dapper pages and handsome knights. Bourgeois fashions (including lace-trimmed garments for both sexes) are presented as well, along with the more modest attire of chamber maids, milkmaids, and shepherdesses. Images of such historic figures as King Henri IV, Madame de Pompadour, Madame du Barry, and Marie Antoinette complete a splendid collection. A valuable reference for costume designers and fashion historians, this beautifully reproduced volume will also serve as a grand treat for fashion enthusiasts.
"This splendid work of scholarship . . . sums up with economy and power all that the written record so far deciphered has to tell about the ancient and complementary civilizations of Babylon and Assyria."—Edward B. Garside, New York Times Book Review Ancient Mesopotamia—the area now called Iraq—has received less attention than ancient Egypt and other long-extinct and more spectacular civilizations. But numerous small clay tablets buried in the desert soil for thousands of years make it possible for us to know more about the people of ancient Mesopotamia than any other land in the early Near East. Professor Oppenheim, who studied these tablets for more than thirty years, used his intimate knowledge of long-dead languages to put together a distinctively personal picture of the Mesopotamians of some three thousand years ago. Following Oppenheim's death, Erica Reiner used the author's outline to complete the revisions he had begun. "To any serious student of Mesopotamian civilization, this is one of the most valuable books ever written."—Leonard Cottrell, Book Week "Leo Oppenheim has made a bold, brave, pioneering attempt to present a synthesis of the vast mass of philological and archaeological data that have accumulated over the past hundred years in the field of Assyriological research."—Samuel Noah Kramer, Archaeology A. Leo Oppenheim, one of the most distinguished Assyriologists of our time, was editor in charge of the Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute and John A. Wilson Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Chicago.