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| Two very good books. |
Recent discoveries in archaeology have advanced our knowledge of the earliest man-made textiles. These new discoveries led Ms. Postrel to declare that "What we usually call the Stone Age could just as easily be called the String Age." String has countless applications in hunting, fishing, trapping, storing food, making bundles, etc., and of course is the ancestor of sewing thread, cables and rope.
String is made by the twisting together of short lengths of material to make longer, usable lengths. I've recently learned how to make string out of just about any linear material, as long as it has some tensile strength, in an online course given by fiber rock star India Flint.
Ms. St. Clair's book was reviewed in the Wall St. Journal, and the reviewer does point out some factual errors; in addition there are no illustrations or maps, which would have helped immensely. Still, it's an enjoyable book with a good bibliography and index. ISBN 9781631494802
Ms. Postrel's book has illustrations, generally tiny, but including a great diagram explaining how those Jacquard punch cards work in a loom. Well written, and well-received, the volume includes a helpful glossary, index and thorough notes, from which the reader could construct a bibliography as one is not given in the book. ISBN 9781541617605
I'm still waiting for a comprehensive, multi-volume, well-researched and illustrated history of textiles, with high production values, including full color illustrations on glossy paper.
