The Royal School of Needlework was opened in London in 1872 with the aim of reviving the art of embroidery for secular uses and in addition providing a source of income for distressed gentlewomen. It had links with both the Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts movements: William Morris and Walter Crane were among the designers who regularly produced work for the School.

Arts and Crafts designers and makers looked for ways to make the crafts accessible to a wider audience. From the 1880s, technical handbooks were produced to educate the public in design and provide practical encouragement for students of the crafts. The Handbook of Embroidery, produced in 1880 by the Royal School of Needlework, is an early example of one such publication. It was produced as part of the School's commitment to the technical training of women and their employment in the decorative arts. The aim was also to provide a showcase for the School's design work to counteract the bad publicity received at the London International Exhibition of Art and Industry in 1874, where its embroideries were described by critics as ‘an incongruous motley of indigested decorative ideas’. It provided comprehensive information on materials, stitches and techniques, as well as helpful hints on cleaning embroideries, a recipe for embroidery paste used to strengthen and stiffen the work, and the presentation of the finished work. Many of the fabrics listed could be supplied by the Royal School of Needlework from specialist suppliers throughout the country. Its importance, and to some extent its continuing practical relevance, is illustrated by the decision to reprint the handbook with an extensive introductory essay by our Fellow Dr Lynn Hulse.

In her essay, Hulse provides an introduction to the early years of the Royal School of Needlework together with a detailed description and analysis of the contents of the handbook. The Handbook of Embroidery sets out detailed information on materials, techniques and craft practices. She notes that the School's current methods for working stitches are much the same as those described in the book. It also gives useful advice for stretching, finishing and cleaning embroideries, although Hulse notes that the suggestion of cleaning newly embroidered crewel work ‘by plunging wrought into a lather made by water in which bran has been boiled’ is a course of action ‘not for the faint hearted’. She also notes that the handbook provided encouragement to thread manufacturers, such as Thomas Wardle, who were promoting wild silks from India; these were cheaper as well as softer and more lustrous than the cultivated silks from Italy, China and Japan.

As Tutor in Contextual Studies and former archivist of the Royal School of Needlework, Hulse is ideally suited to set this handbook in context. Her account of the authorship of Handbook of Embroidery is fascinating. It was written by Letitia Higgin, the School's assistant secretary, and edited by its vice-president, Lady Marian Alford. The subsequent dispute between these two over the publication rights was protracted and ended up with Lady Alford's resignation from the School; she went on to publish Needlework as Art in 1886. Higgin also left the School in 1884 and went on to found and manage the successful Society of Associated Artists, specializing in embroidery applied to costume. As a result, and despite the demand for copies, the Handbook has not been re-published until now.

This reprint of the Handbook of Embroidery is well produced, with Hulse's essay clearly differentiated from the original. The handbook itself is a facsimile edition, with the two original cover designs reproduced as end papers. The volume as a whole includes both the original black-and-white and coloured illustrations together with historic photographs and a good selection of work produced under the auspices of the Royal School of Needlework.