Cesare Vecello * De gli Habiti Antichi e Modérni di Diversi Parti di Mondo

I don't know if anyone has visited the Bodleian Library in Oxford? If not, do pay a visit while you are in Oxford to enjoy the Micheal and Elizabeth Feller early needlework exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum (1 August 2014 - 12 October 2014) click here for details.

While I was in the library I saw that early books were stored on the shelves with the cut leaves facing out and the spines to the wall. I asked the curator why this was the case. The answer was simple: that was the way they were traditionally shelved - to preserve the spines, which would otherwise be damaged by people pulling down on them when taking from the shelf. The problem then is, with just the cut leaves facing you, how do you know which book is which? The answer to that question is also simple. You decorate them or have someone decorate them for you. And just to illustrate this point, here are some early books on a shelf which belonged to Odorico Pilone (not in the Bodleian). The decorator in this instance is Cesare Vecellio. Like his more famous cousin, Tiziano Vecellio (Titian), Cesare was from the Veneto and lived about 1530 - 1601.

Cesare is most famous for the book he published in 1590: De gli Habiti Antichi e Modérni di Diversi Parti di Mondo with illustrations of costume of peoples from all over the world. Though apparently his own work, it is now thought the woodcuts were by Christopher Krieger from Nuremberg. Below you can see some example pages from this book.

Only 2 more nights of our anniversary offer.
Needleprint 10th Anniversary - Save $95.

To share our 10th anniversary celebrations with you, we are offering throughout the month of March 2014 a Free Goodhart Samplers Book or a Free Feller Needlework Collection Volume 1 with every copy of The Feller Needlework Collection Volume 2. You can take advantage of this special offer today. It comes with all our kindest wishes in this our last year before retirement.