ADAMS, Katherine Jean (2016). Comfort & Glory: Two Centuries of American Quilts from the Briscoe Center, Austin: University of Texas Press, Briscoe Center for American History. ISBN: 978-1-4773-0918-6, hardback, 320 pp., fully illustrated with b/w and colour images, bibliography, glossary, notes, index. Price: US$75.
A beautifully illustrated book that is divided into three main sections. The first details the background to the Briscoe Center’s collection of quilts. The second is a ‘Gallery of Quilts’ , which is divided into historical developments and the range of designs used for the quilts. The third section contains the appendices, a glossary, notes and so forth.
The Gallery is the ‘heart’ of the book. It provides a wide range of well-documented information about the history and development of American (bed) quilts. It covers many subjects, from eighteenth century crewel embroidered quilts to folk art lily quilts, via American civil war quilts and ‘tobacco silk puff quilts’. These are just a few of the many different types of quilts recorded and described in this book.
Recommendation: If you need a book on the history of American quilts, this is the one! It is a well presented publication that is a joy to hold as well as providing a wide range of information in a readable manner.
Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood
