Origin and Early History of the Fashion Plate

Nevinson, J. L.Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.1

Word count: 63K words
Chapters: 7

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Origin and Early History of the Fashion Plate by J. L. NevinsonAuthor: Nevinson, J. L. (John Lea),Language: English, Class: GT: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation: Manners and customs, Release Date: Nov 29, 2010

Editor's review

This book is J. L. Nevinson's English monograph on the origin and early history of the fashion plate, a public-domain e-book classified under customs and manners. Its value lies in restoring the fashion plate, an often overlooked image type, to the history of publishing and dress culture, showing how it evolved from early printed matter into a vehicle for spreading fashion. Concise and focused, with descriptive discussion of early plate features, it suits readers interested in dress history, print history, book illustration, and visual culture as an introductory lead. Read it as a topical essay rather than a general history: use the plate types it mentions to search for related images and cross-check text with images; also note its period and Eurocentric perspective, which should not be applied directly to non-Western dress diffusion.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in the origins of dress history and fashion culture
Students of printmaking, book illustration, and visual culture
Design practitioners wanting to understand how early images spread fashion
Readers who prefer concise English topical essays and can look up sources independently

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting an illustrated album or many high-resolution plates
Beginners needing a systematic general history or introductory textbook
Readers wholly unfamiliar with European dress history who are unwilling to verify sources

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the periodization, then revisit descriptions of key plate types.
While reading, search for examples of early fashion plates mentioned in the book and compare text with images.
Prepare a timeline linking printmaking developments with printing technology and changes in dress fashion.
After reading, write a short review summarizing the author's core arguments and possible period limitations.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Does this book contain many illustrations?

From the available materials, this is a topical essay on the origin and early history of the fashion plate, focused on textual discussion rather than a plate compilation. Readers who want images will need to search for visual materials based on the plate types mentioned, using the book as a lead rather than an album.

Can I read it without a background in dress history?

Yes, but it requires some patience. The essay is focused and not long, but it involves early printed matter and European dress contexts; completely unfamiliar readers should first grasp the general period framework and look up proper names as they read, treating it as an introductory lead rather than a systematic textbook.

What should I note about the book's perspective?

It is an early European topical study with the perspective of its time and a Eurocentric bent. Its discussion of the origin of the fashion plate centers on European printing and dress diffusion; readers should not apply its judgments directly to non-Western dress cultures and should compare with later research.

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About the author

Nevinson, J. L. Author

J. L. Nevinson is an author about whom very little public information is available; only one work is known, Origin and Early History of the Fashion Plate. From this title it can be inferred that the writing focuses on the historical origins of fashion imagery and printmaking, falling within the intersection of dress history, print and publishing history, and visual culture. The book examines this particular genre of fashion plate, tracing its formative context and early development, and is of reference value for understanding how fashion illustration became a distinct category. Owing to the lack of information on biography, nationality, and profession, it is not possible to introduce the author's academic background or full body of work; readers can only approach the author's research orientation through this one work, which emphasizes the organization of primary materials and presents the early development of fashion imagery in the form of a specialized historical study.