A Dictionary of Lace There is certainly room in the whole field of lace for some difference of opinion. But the latitude is limited: the object of a definition is that other people shall understand what we are talking about. Without this agreement, communication becomes meaningless.' A Dictionary of Lace. This book not only sets out clearly the generally accepted definitions of lace terms such as blonde, droschel, reticella and tulle but also assembles the many differences of opinion as to origin, nomenclature, dating and sequences of development of the more controversial forms. There are brief encyclopaedic sections on design, dating, fashion, smuggling, the naming and geography of laces and the use of foreign terms. The numerous pages of illustrations are intended to supplement those of design and technique shown in Pat Earnshaw's The Identification of Lace, by broadening the field to show lace in relation to contemporary historical, political, social and economic situations (with Louis XIV garbed in lace, the ladies of his court in secret dissipation, the collar of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, a 1661 collar thought to have been made for the engagement of Charles II and Catharine of Braganza, the baby cap worn by Lord Nelson, the wedding veil of Queen Victoria long thought to have been lost, and the wedding tulle of Diana, Princess of Wales); and by extending also in depth, to include sketches of the lace stitches used, stereo-scanner magnifications of the fibre-elements. and photographs of some of the machines and their products. There are over four hundred entries. About the author Pat Earnshaw is the author of The Identification of Lace, lace consultant to Sotheby's Belgravia and a lecturer on the history and identification of lace-for NADFAS: She qualified originally as a biologist and wrote The Systematics of Flowering Plants and a four-part programme for teaching machines on The Characteristics of Living Things. In September 1981 she was guest speaker at the Annual Convention of the International Old Lacers in Detroit and gave lectures and workshops in New York, Minneapolis, Houston and Washington DC. Her study of lace began long ago as a hobby, but the ab- sorbing interest of this strange fabric, its rich historical which it associations and the problems poses have gradually taken over as a full-time occupation.

Pat Earnshaw

A dictionary of lace