textile HERITAGE Period piece

How the ‘Stitch Off’ project grew from research by Dr Jennie Batchelor

WHEN THE LADY’S Magazine; The magazine for or, Entertaining Companion for ladies the Fair Sex launched in August 1770, it was unlikely that its The magazine’s diverse, multimedia publisher predicted its success. content was central to its appeal The market for periodicals had and marketing strategy from the grown substantially since the outset. Its first issue opened with first were published in the late an imposing fashion plate of ‘a 17th century. By the middle of Lady in Full Dress’, followed by an the 18th, however, the market ‘Address to the Public’ in which the seemed saturated, with many titles editor explained the magazine’s disappearing as quickly as they aim to make its readers’ ‘minds not were being printed. less amiable than [their] persons’ Runs of earlier women’s through the publication of original periodicals would not have given content in genres including: essays, the Lady’s Magazine’s publisher poetry, travel writing, moral cause for optimism. Eliza and medical advice, recipes, as Haywood’s Female Spectator well as ‘Novels, Tales, Romances, (1744–46) and Charlotte Lennox’s intended to confirm chastity’. This Lady’s Museum (1760–61) ran for content was provided by readers only a few years. Previous Lady’s/ themselves who were asked to Ladies’ magazines by Jasper send material gratis to the editors Goodwill (1749–53) and Oliver with the promise it might find a Goldsmith (1759–63) fared little place in the magazine’s pages. better. Women (and men) did in their Yet this Lady’s Magazine defied hundreds. Their work sat alongside expectations, running for 13 issues extracts from already published a year from 1770 to 1832 with work, which was ‘ransacked’ by the a monthly circulation of up to editor for readers’ edification. H

15,000 copies. This is staggering The magazine also offered P OL

when we remember that print engravings, music sheets, and D U R runs of contemporary novels such sartorial intelligence. It promised COLE

as (1811) fashion plates and reports and I were routinely 750 copies. The included monthly ‘patterns for N magazine saw off countless rivals, the Tambour [and] Embroidery’. © MAGE and its readers included notable The patterns made the magazine I writers such as George Crabbe and especially good value for money. Top: Mary Russell Mitford. For just sixpence an issue, readers “Dozens ‘Stitch Off’ items on show almost certainly read the Lady’s purchased 60 pages of text-based at House Library Magazine and wore her debts to content, illustrations and a pattern of people tales of Knightleys, Willoughbys for ‘less than half the price they Above: and Brandons proudly in her could expect to pay for the pattern around the Shoes by Nicole Rudolph own novels. Charlotte Brontë alone at the Haberdashers’. The definitely read it, describing in a magazine kept its price to sixpence world started letter to Hartley Coleridge dated an issue for three decades, only 10 December 1840 how she would raising it to a shilling in 1800 when work on the steal away from lessons to read its colour fashion plates became a serial fiction until a terrible day regular feature. patterns” when her father burnt all copies in I have spent fifteen years, her possession.

40 THE QUILTER I NO 147 SUMMER 2016 textile HERITAGE

Left: Embroidery pattern ‘A New Pattern for a Gown’ which can be downloaded from the project’s website (see panel on page 42)

Centre: Pages from the Lady’s Magazine

Bottom: Goldwork 1775 shoe pattern by Mary Martin

on and off, reading the Lady’s research into new and unexpected Magazine, seduced by its eclectic directions, most notably, ‘The Great content on every conceivable Lady’s Magazine Stitch Off’. subject from politics and education, to recipes for removing facial hair, ‘Stitch Off’ and terrifying supernatural fiction. I have spent weeks lost in archival The success of ‘Stitch Off’ has been searches trying to work out the more of a surprise than the identities of reader-contributors, magazine’s success must have been who hid behind pseudonyms to its editors. I would like to say I like A.Z., Belinda, A Spinster, or planned it, but I cannot. One day a Constantia Maria. reader of our blog contacted me to Now, as Principal Investigator of say that she had a 1796 copy of the a Leverhulme Trust funded project magazine and wondered if I would on the magazine at the University like to buy it. I did and was amazed of Kent, I work in a team of three to find it contained several original devoted to cataloguing its content embroidery patterns, which rarely and as many of the magazine’s survive because they were intended authors as we can identify between for use. I posted photos of the 1770 and 1818. The project’s patterns on our Twitter page. The principal goal is to provide an response was phenomenal. ‘I would open-access database that indexes love to make one of these’, several contributors and all 14,000 plus people said. I could make that of its print items over this period happen, I thought, and set up a so that anyone interested in webpage from which the patterns the history and literature of the could be downloaded. I could not Romantic era can locate items of have predicted what happened next. particular interest. Dozens of people around The database launches in the world started work on the September 2016. Until then, you patterns. They asked if there were can follow our progress on our rules on what they could do. I said blog (see panel on page 42), no. People could use (and many Twitter feed or Facebook page. The have used) historically sensitive social media community that has techniques and materials. Others formed around the project is one have machine embroidered and of its biggest joys for me. I like to turned the patterns into works of think our followers resemble the art in forms and media that would N I magazine’s first readers: people of be inconceivable to the magazine’s ART

M diverse interests and backgrounds original readers.

ARY who come together to share Then came the icing on the

M their passion for women’s history cake: an approach by Chawton © and writing. The community is House Library, a centre for early MAGE

I also responsible for taking my women’s writing in the house once

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The Lady’s Magazine project More details can be found at: www.kent.ac.uk/english/ ladys-magazine/

The project’s blog can be found at: https://blogs.kent. ac.uk/ladys-magazine

Patterns for ‘The Great Lady’s Magazine Stitch Off’ can be downloaded at: www.kent.ac.uk/english/ladys-magazine/ patterns/index.html

‘ at 200: from English Village to Global Appeal’ Until 25 September 2016 Chawton House Library, Chawton, Alton, Above: Above right: GU34 1SJ A ‘Stitch Off’ embroidery ‘Stitch Off’ items on show at Chawton House www.chawtonhouse.org Library The exhibition commemorates a landmark in Jane Austen’s publishing career and features manuscript materials, belonging to Jane Austen’s brother consider joining in yourself. We can unique loan items and work from the Library’s own Edward Austen (later Knight). take new items for the ‘Stitch Off’ collection. Emphasising the global world of the novel, and They were putting on a major until the exhibition closes in late early 19th-century publishing practices, the exhibition sets exhibition about Jane Austen’s September. Do contact me if you the first edition of Emma alongside the first American Emma to mark its 200th anniversary would like to know more. edition (on loan from King’s College Cambridge), and the and wondered if they might give first French translation (on loan from the University of a home to a ‘Stitch Off’ display. The magazine’s legacy Göttingen). Another section, which features the ‘Stitch Emma is especially preoccupied Off’ display, concentrates on female accomplishments. with the question of female The Lady’s Magazine disappeared The largest exhibition area focuses on Jane Austen’s move accomplishments, after all. from public memory some time to publish with John Murray and features first editions For the exhibition’s duration a in the late 19th century, but of works by several of Austen’s female contemporaries room will be full of exquisite ‘Stitch its influence is still felt in the and correspondence with them. An exciting highlight is Off’ items produced by novice to genre to which it gave birth. Charlotte Brontë’s letter on reading the novel (on loan highly experienced embroiderers. It set the agenda for a new from the Huntington Library in California). The items include many glorious type of publication and for a hoops and mounted samples, an type of womanhood – creative, exquisitely delicate handkerchief, a accomplished, yet critical and stunning pashmina, a beautiful educated – that historians of stitched pot plant and an extraordinary gender should take note of. The pair of shoes made in Colonial ‘Stitch Off’ is only one, but perhaps Williamsburg from scratch by the the most elegant, way in which very talented Nicole Rudolph. we are trying to bring this once No amount of verbal description incredibly important, but until or two-dimensional images can recently forgotten, publication convey how extraordinary the back to the prominence it deserves. results are. You need to see them for yourself and I hope many of you Dr Jennie Batchelor (University of will by visiting the ‘Emma at 200’ Kent) 2016 Chawton House Library exhibition. Better still, you might [email protected]

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