BIBLIOGRAPHY

OF PUBLISHED BOOKS
AND OTHER REFERENCES
SOURCES

There have been four main books which discuss and catalogue the silks of the Victorian period of the late 1800's and early 1900's.

Of these, three mainly detail, with pictures, the various silks produced by Thomas Stevens. Only one, that of Godden, catalogues the silks of other manufacturers, principally Grant, and also provides extensive history of this fascinating subject.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Much that we know of the silk weavers of the time is due to the Godden book, and the very many contributors who made this work so extensive, and an essential reference source. Much of this web site is drawn from the Godden book.

Chris Radley wrote a series of books discussing the various silk postcards produced in the UK and Europe. His research refined the Godden catalogue of both Stevens and Grant postcards, and listed for the first time various titles of the Stevens Alpha Series cards.

In addition to these published works, I am greatly indebted to Mr John High, a collector in the USA. He has very kindly given me access to his own, un-published catalogue of Victorian silks. This catalogue greatly extended Radley's list of the Alpha Series cards produced by Stevens, and John's list also greatly extends the ships and Hands Across the Sea postcards listed by Godden.

Lewis Cowen has published a booklet (in early 2001) which discusses in detail the history of the Brocklehurst Fabric weavers. Whilst Godden lists Brocklehurst titles, Cowen extends this list up to the final silk produced by Brocklehurst, and contains colour photographs and technical details of all of the Brocklehurst woven pictures. This booklet is now out of print.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Silk Pictures of Thomas Stevens
Wilma Sinclair LeVan Baker,
Exposition Press Inc., New York.
1957

Stevengraphs
Austin Sprake and Michael Darby,
published in Guernsey by the authors to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the first mounted Stevens' silk picture in 1879.
1968

Stevengraphs and other Victorian silk pictures
Geoffrey A. Godden,
Barrie & Jenkins Ltd., London.
1971
A new CD version of Godden's book is available exclusively from this web site. More information available.

Stevengraph Price Guide
Austin Sprake,
published in Guernsey, Channel Islands by the author.
1971

The Price Guide to Stevengraphs
Austin Sprake,
The Antique Collectors Club, London.
1972

History of Silk Postcards
Chris Radley,
published by the author.
1975

Collecting Silk Postcards
Chris Radley,
published by the author.
1976

The Embroidered Silk Postcard
Chris Radley,
published by the author.
1977

The Woven Silk Postcard
Chris Radley,
published by the author.
1978

Alpha Series cards
Thomas Stevens' woven silk ship & Hands Across the Sea postcards
Thomas Stevens Bookmarks & Political Favors
E. Bollans & Co. Leamington Bookmarks
Welch & Lenton, Coventry Bookmarks
Un-published works by John High,
USA.
2000

Macclesfield Woven Silk Pictures
Lewis Cowen,
published in association with Authors Inc., Wilmslow, Cheshire, England,
2001. (48 pages)

 

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

There follows a list of all people who have kindly contributed to the development of this catalogue of Stevengraphs, Grant and Other Victorian silk weavers, or who have kindly donated images of the silks:-

Carole Clarke:	Carole's grandfather and an uncle both worked for Brough Nicholson & Hall, in Leek, Staffordshire before the war. Carole has provided the titles of most of the Brough, Nicholson & Hall silk bookmarks and images to go with the titles.
Graham Fulford:	Graham kindly donated an image of the Thomas Stevens' bookmarks, I wish you a merry Christmas (words in wreath) and Happy (woven may flower) thy birthday be; the Brocklehurst-Whiston Amalgamated picture, The Spinning Wheel, and the E. Bollans & Co. bookmark, A FRIEND'S BLESSING.
Sarah Hall:	Sarah kindly donated an image of the Thomas Stevens' bookmark, A merry Christmas and a Happy New Year / Home for the holidays.
Lucy Topp:	Lucy kindly donated an image of the Thomas Stevens' bookmark, Buy your own cherries.
Mary Dodd:	Mary kindly donated images of the Brocklehurst-Whiston Amalgamated pictures, Avro York, Queen's Silver Jubilee, Little Moreton Hall, Gawsworth Hall, Capesthorne Hall, The Old King's Head, St. Paul's Cathedral and The Kings School.
Georg Hartong:	Georg kindly donated in excess of 80 images of Thomas Stevens' bookmarks.
Anna Kasl:	Anna kindly donated an image of the Thomas Stevens' bookmark, To my dear wife.
Derek Horsfield:	Derek kindly donated an image of the Thomas Stevens' bookmark, To a friend / Of all the gifts which heaven bestows.
Mary Martin:	Mary kindly donated an image of the Brough, Nicholson & Hall bookmark, Coronation of George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937.
Tim Jones:	Tim kindly donated an image of the Thomas Stevens' bookmark, A Wish / O may you e'er in peace abide.
Anne Hurst:	Anna kindly donated an image of Charles Newsome's bookmark: Victoria & Albert 1862.
Brian Grice:	Brian kindly donated an image of the Thomas Stevens' bookmark, In Commemoration of the Testimonial to Sir Moses Montefiore. . . / (finding of Moses) / Pray for the Peace.
Tina Joyce:	Tina kindly donated an image of the John Caldicott's Scenic view of Coventry
Steve Snook:	Steve kindly donated an image of The Late Fred Archer, in the Duke of Westminster colours
A Walker:	Altea kindly donated an image of the Welch & Lenton Bookmark - The Little Gleaner.
Michael Fowler:	Michael kindly donated an image of the Welch & Lenton Bookmark - With Best Wishes - The Bible! The Bible! . ..
Mike Strong:	Mike kindly donated an image of the Bollans Bookmark - H.R.H. Princess Louise Marquis . . . married March 1871
Paul Singer:	Paul, of www.militarysilks.co.uk, has provided me with excellent examples of two Stevens royal favours, and four Grant favours, none of which was previously recorded.
Beryl Kenyon de Pascual:	Beryl kindly donated an image of the Stevens Bookmark - My dear mother / What'er my lot in life - which had previously been an unrecorded title.
Georg Hartong:	Georg, as well as the donation above relating to Stevens' bookmarks, has also kindly donated eight images of John Caldicott silks.
Wayne Gebhardt:	Wayne kindly donated an image of the Stevens Bookmark - Morning hymn / Awake my soul, and with the sun.
Mrs G Buckingham:	Mrs Buckingham has kindly donated images of the John Osborne and C. Wood Stevens Portraits.
John Sykes:	John has provided me with an image of the Brocklehurst-Whiston silk of The Gawsworth Old Rectory.
Alan Dutton:	Alan has provided me with an image of the Welch & Lenton bookmark, A HAPPY BIRTHDAY / MAY SUCCESS . .
Mary Brittan:	Mary has provided me with excellent quality images of all the previously missing Brocklehurst-Wiston (BWA) silk pictures.
Susan Chatila:	Susan has provided me with an excellent quality image of the Grant Souvenir of the Franco British Exhibition (gb1980) ribbon.
Georg Hartong:	Georg continues to provide extensive support to this site by donating several excellent quality images of Grant bookmarks and ribbons.
Bill Birch:	Bill has provided me with an excellent quality image of the Stevens bookmark - Jesus hear and save.
Ali Besiroglu:	Ali has provided me with an excellent quality image of the Stevens bookmark - Forget me not / May heaven's blessings be with thee.
Allan Swan:	Allan has kindly provided me with an excellent quality image of the vary scarce Stevens picture - Royal Jubilee Exhibition, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1887.
Marilyn Studholme:	Marilyn has kindly provided me with an excellent quality image of the Welch & Lenton bookmark, BIRTHDAY GREETING / (flowers) / I wish this day . .
Colin Harding:	Colin has kindly provided me with an excellent quality image of the Grant bookmark, Greetings from the Scottish Exhibition Glasgow 1911 / Lead Kindly Light, which had not previously been recorded.
Rachel Andrews:	Rachel has kindly provided me with an excellent quality image of the Caldicott bookmark, Her Royal Highness The Princess Alice, and the unknown King George V & Queen Mary favour.
Alison Shone:	Alison has kindly provided me with an excellent quality image of the Welch & Lenton bookmark, TO A DEAR FRIEND / Sweet and peaceful.
Georg Hartong:	Georg continues to provide extensive support to this site by donating several excellent quality images, including two Stevens bookmarks, and two Slingsby ribbons, one of which was previously unrecorded.
Sheila Langston:	Sheila has kindly provided me with an excellent quality image of the rare Stevens silk picture, st644 - Ye Old Crown House.
Carol Syms:	Brough, Nicholson & Hall, in 1935, produced a leather writing case with a silk on the front and another on the back. Carol has provided me with excellent quality images of the two silks on this rare and unusal use of silk pictures.
Ian Sharp:	Ian has kindly provided me with excellent quality images of two Stevens silk pictures, st96 - Coventry Old and New; and it's sister silk, st596 - Warwickshire Old and New.
John Sharp:	John has kindly provided me with excellent quality images of sb2660 - Woven in the Machinery Department, Crystal Palace / The late Sir Joseph Paxton Stevens bookmark.
Alex Merseburger:	Alex has kindly provided me with three excellent quality images; one of the Bollans bookmark obo464 - MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY / (flowers) / My heart breathes . .; and two Stevens bookmarks of sb2540 - With best wishes / Hope the (woven anchor) of the soul and sb1441 - Morning hymn / Awake my soul, and with the sun (with clover leaf design). The title, sb1441 is new to the Stevens catalogue.
Acknowledgement is made to Eric Quayle's book "The Collector's Book of Books" for the image of Thomas Stevens' bookmark, Handel Festival / (wreath which reads: 'Sacred Harmonic Society') / Crystal Palace, June 1862, and to the bookmark, Married at St. George's Chapel Windsor March 10th 1863, and to the bookmark, The Blessing / (open book of Numbers & Chap VII) / The Lord bless thee.