A while back I came across some new needlework books that French stitchers mentioned on the Legacy board. I ordered two of them, and they just came today! The first one is Les Cartes Postales Brodees. It is an oversized hardcover book of embroidered postcards. Luckily it is nearly all illustrations, as I am not sure how much of the text I am going to understand when I finally sit down and really look at it! The postcards are really gorgeous and I can't believe something like that being sent though the mail, though they must have been as sone have stamps on them. There don't seem to be dates for most of them in the captions, but the earliest one seems to be about 1906, and a later one from about 1931. I wonder how easily these are to come by these days (vintage postcards)? I will have to ask on the bulletin board and see if any of the French stitchers know.
The second book I ordered is Les Marquoirs Ancien . Another very lovely book. It is all vintage samplers. Some are dated in the 1700s, but most seem to be from the 1800s. This book is also lavishly illustrated, but there is text to go along with each sampler. There are also many graphs with motifs, alphabets and borders. It does not appear, however, that there is any sort of key for what floss colors are used. Of course a creative stitcher could choose her own colors. I wonder if all these samplers are in one collection. How nice would that be?!
Both are gorgeous books. I have a growing needlework library now, and many of the titles are French. It seems that more books on samplers and traditional needlework are published in France than here. It has been a while since I have bought any needlework books or stash, so I am quite pleased with my new books! I also have on my list some of the older Blackbird Designs books--completely different feel, I know! These will be great to look at over the long weekend!