The exhibition was divided into three sections: examples of embroidery under the general heading of 'Pictures in imitation of tapestry,' then over 350 samplers, and thirdly sundry items such as book covers, garments, caskets, purses, and so forth, which were embroidered by those who had learned the art of sampler making or were using samplers as guides for their work. There were samplers from every decade since the mid-seventeenth century. Many of the items on display came from Huish’s own collection.
A small catalogue with the same name accompanied the exhibition. The catalogue was twelve pages long. Soon after, the catalogue was expanded by Huish into an extended study called Samplers and Tapestry Embroideries (1900; London: Longmans, Green and Co.; only 600 copies being printed). This book was reprinted in 1913 as an enlarged version that included extra information, especially about American samplers. This book has become a classic source of information about the history of British, European and North American samplers.
Sources:
- Copy of the 2nd edition is available at: https://archive.org/details/samplerstapestry00huisrich (retrieved 19 March 2016)
- http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41717/41717-h/41717-h.htm (retrieved 19 March 2016)
Digital source of illustration (retrieved 8 June 2016).
GVE