Antique Crochet

Featuring Lots of Color Plates For Embroidery, Plus Antique Crocheted Silk Bags, Purses, Bedspread Squares, and More.

This book was published in 1899/1900 by Belding Bros. & Co. The subtitle of the book is "Instructions in Silk Embroidery and Silk Crocheting". The original cover price of the book was only 10 cents.

Quoting from the title page of this book:

Copyright 1899 Belding Bros. & Co.

Fully Illustrated With Cuts and Color Plates

Edited, designed and arranged by expert artists and needleworkers, directly connected with the art departments in our various offices. Any requests for advice or information on art embroidery subjects will come to their immediate attention. In addition to our own corps of artists, we have at all times the cordial assistance of other eminent art needlework authorities in the various metropolitan centers, many of whom have contributed to the production of this book.

Color Plates and Embroidery Projects:

Roses:

Orchids:

Thistles:

Passion Flowers:

Water Lilies:

Iris:

Fuschia:

Clematis:

Columbine:

California Poppies:

Dogwood:

Birds:

Apple Blossoms:

Wildflowers:

Trumpet Flowers:

Crochet Patterns:

Purchasing Information: Where To Buy Your Own Copy of This Book:

Click here to buy Needle & Hook Books at Abe

Click Here To Search For Needle and Hook at Biblio.

I would caution you, before you purchase, to make sure which edition of the book you are getting. Belding Bros. published many different editions with this same title. To the best of my memory, I think the editions were all different. I owned another Needle & Hook book also (dated 1895) and I think it may have had different contents than this one. I sold that book awhile back, and I have not been able to find my photos of it- I think my husband may have deleted them. (Yes, I still love him. No, please don't send him hate mail.) At any rate, if you are interested in owning the specific book pictured and described here, the edition dated 1899-1900 is the one you want. If you have your heart set on working one of these patterns, it would be wise to confirm the actual contents with the seller before purchasing, if you are unsure.

Click here to search for the Needle and Hook Book on ebay.

Pricing Information:

I paid $19.05 for my copy of the book, which was purchased in 2003. Please note that my copy is in TERRIBLE condition, which did affect the price. You can see that there is considerable water damage, plus writing on the color plates, plus the front cover is a mess. At that time, most undamaged-but-otherwise-comparable books in this series- if I could find them at all- were selling for prices above $50, and sometimes the prices even went well above $50. Antique pattern books with color plates are highly desirable to collectors, and as you can see, this book has quite a few color plates. Please note that condition and demand both play a significant role in determining pricing. I think I was able to purchase this book so inexpensively just because the condition was so bad.

So maybe you're wondering what a copy of this book is worth right now. Well, I don't know the answer to that, honestly. I've provided some links to book sites where you might be able to find other copies for sale to see what prices other sellers are asking. In general, my opinion is that a range from $20-$150 US is reasonable, depending on condition. I think that a copy priced at less than $20 is quite a bargain (unless it has something drastically wrong with it, like mold, or half the pages missing.) I personally wouldn't ask more than $100 for a copy of this unless the book were in pristine mint condition. But there are so many different factors that affect pricing that it is impossible to say with certainty what a book is "worth". These statements are my opinion only, and offered as such. Your mileage may vary! Please feel free to comment and share your opinion too.