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Workbook 1971-1631
Workbook, "Elementary Specimens OF PLAIN AND ORNAMENTAL NEEDLEWORK..."
Workbook 1971-1631

Workbook, "Elementary Specimens OF PLAIN AND ORNAMENTAL NEEDLEWORK..."

Dateca. 1825
OriginGreat Britain
MediumLeather and paper with linen samples
DimensionsOH: 9 1/4" x OW: 6"
Credit LineAnonymous gift
Object number1971-1631
DescriptionThis is a workbook bound in red leather with instructions for various sewing and needlework projects. These include examples of a simple hem (#3), a hem stitch hem (#4), a running stitch hem (#6), an overcast edge (#7), a narrow hem (#9), a wide hem (#9), an overcast join (#11), a running stitch join (#12), an outline stitch (#14), and gathering to a band (#15). A miniature shirt is also included among the examples. A sheet of numbers, with some already cut and used with the finished lessons, is bound in the back of the book.

The full title of the book reads: Elementary Specimens OF PLAIN AND ORNAMENTAL NEEDLEWORK ACCORDING TO THE Perryian System of EDUCATION.
Label TextBy the first half of the nineteenth century needlework exercise books were common in many British schools for the poor and orphaned. These books consisted of practical needlework lessons for young girls, who would paste their successful projects into the book upon completion. A miniature man’s shirt was one of the intricate sewing projects from this manual.

This book follows the Perryian System of Education, a variation of the Lancasterian System. The Perryian System was developed by James Perry (1796-1843) during the early 1820s. Like the Lancasterian System, the Perryian System employed student monitors who were responsible for teaching younger students. Under the Perryian System, each monitor was only one class ahead of their pupil(s). The Perryian System seems to have declined by the 1830s.
ProvenanceThis book was previously in the collection of Mrs. DeWitt Clinton Cohen.