15 Oct 2009

John Becker: Pattern and Loom, second edition, 2009, 400 pp. (1st ed. 1986) (a free E-book)
Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Supplied note:
"Dear all, I have now placed this book on the Web for free download:
John Becker, with the collaboration of Donald B. Wagner Pattern and Loom: A Practical Study of the Development of Weaving Techniques in China, Western Asia, and Europe. Second edition, 2009, 400 pp. (1st ed. 1986)
http://staff.hum.ku.dk/dbwagner/Pattern-and-Loom.html
John Becker (1915-1986) was the youngest of the old guard in Scandinavian hand-weaving, and one of the last to know the traditional techniques from daily production. He was also an artist, had the beginning of an academic education, and was careful to draw on other experts as necessary, so that his book is unique: based on his own very extensive experience as a weaver, on personal examination of numerous artefacts, and on written sources in Scandinavian languages, English, French, German, Spanish, Flemish, Chinese and Japanese. In his practical research he wove replicas of ancient samples, and learned from this a great deal about the ancient techniques.
John Becker died in July 1986 at the age of 71, while the first edition of this book was in press. After the publication of an edition of a few hundred, the cliches from which it was printed were destroyed; reprints have therefore not been possible. When his widow Kirsten Becker died in 2003 I inherited the copyright to the book, and the original publishers have kindly relinquished their rights, so a new edition is now possible. In this new edition I have done the typesetting and layout myself, and I hope that readers will find that the sizing and cropping of the illustrations, and their placement in relation to the text, are now more satisfactory than in the original edition.
Publication of a 400-page book in this on-line form is obviously not ideal - I am negotiating with a Danish publisher for a printed edition.
Regards Don Wagner."
Self-description:
"Free download (400 pages, pdf, 23.5 Mbytes)."
Table of contents:
Preface ix
Introduction 1
Part I: Patterned weaves of Han China, 206 BC -- AD 220 7
Patterned weaves of Han China 9
1. The monochrome patterned weaves 16
2. Gauze weaves 35
3. The polychrome silks, jin 55
Part II: Patterned Weaves of Early Western Asia 81
4. Western Asia 83
5. Weft-faced compound twill or samitum 111
Part III: Patterned weaves of the Mediterranean region 145
6. Lampas 147
7. Double-faced weft weaves 196
8. Patterned double cloth 221
9. Damask 248
Part IV: The eclectic pattern weaves of Tang China 287
10. The eclectic pattern weaves of Tang China 289
Part V: Weaving implements 309
11. The development of mechanical patterning: 'The' drawloom 311
12. Our drawloom -- some weaving implements 346
Bibliography 363
Index 376

URL http://staff.hum.ku.dk/dbwagner/Pattern-and-Loom.html
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
Link reported by: Donald B. Wagner (dwag--at--alum.mit.edu)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Academic
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Essential
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30