Encyclopedia - what tales you tell

Recently at my Embroiderers' Guild Branch, we had a most excellent talk by Amanda Clayton - one of those filled with snippets of information, the sentence in the midst of the topic which strikes a chord.  And of course the work, I loved.  Her own collection of things, handmade books, and, just pure deliciousness!

One of the things she brought along was an old copy of Therese de Dillmont's Encyclopedia of Needlework.  Two things I loved about this - its age and the fact it was a very fat little book.  I do already own a modern reprint of this book, but felt the need to buy an old copy.
So, Ebay search and this came through the door.

Its only A6 size, but over 800 pages

Look what I found within the pages

There's no date as to the print of this copy, save for it being a revised and extended version with colour plates.  It is full of wonderful phrases not used today, such as:

"Decoration of the gathers, known as Smocking"

Here are a couple of paragraphs which caught my eye.

"Mechanical power" - ooooh

So often we don't sit properly to work, and end up with neck and back ache.

"an awkward attitude" - mhmm does that include having a hissy fit when it all goes wrong.

This book is not so beaten up by time or use, I wonder who owned it, did they use it, was it a present for someone who hated stitching, but it was expected of them.

Who knows, I might make up a story of who owned it and when.