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New open access e-book: Scottish Girls’ Samplers

11th March 2022 | Categories: Publications

The Society is pleased to announce the release of this title as an open access e-book, now available through the Open Access E-Books platform.

‘Remember Now Thy Creator’: Scottish Girls’ Samplers, 1700–1872

by Naomi E A Tarrant

Click here to access the e-book: https://doi.org/10.9750/9781908332271

Embroidered samplers show the one aspect of girls’ education that leaves the most lasting and tangible memorial of that part of their lives. This book considers samplers made in Scotland; it aims to situate them within the social context of the period and to examine their role in the education of girls. The time span covers the first emergence of a specific Scottish style and ends with the introduction of the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act, which made schooling a local government responsibility and led eventually to downplaying the importance of sampler making. Girls in Scotland made samplers within a general British tradition, but some designs appear to have developed that are specifically Scottish, such as the use of red and green alphabets.

Praise for the book:

‘This is a very important volume for helping our understanding of the history behind these labours of love that some of us are privileged to own.’

– Barbara Crawford (The Antiquaries Journal)

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