The Colourful Past

An overview of well-known dyestuffs used for dyeing textiles, and the relation between dyestuffs and organic pigments in paintings and their historical relevance.

"Celebrating the 30-year career of British interior designer and architectural historian Edward Bulmer, whose popular line of eco-friendly paints are all-natural and toxic- and plastic-free. Bulmer takes readers on in-depth tours of the centuries-old houses he's worked on, including well-known British homes such as Althorp, Goodwood House, and Pitshill, as well those that are privately owned and lesser known, including his own, Court of Noke in Herefordshire, which was built around 1700"--Publisher's description.

'A meticulously researched, important and beautiful volume that goes well beyond the scope of its title to describe the hitherto neglected subject of woodland flora and place it in a broad ecological and historical context.' - Stehan Buczacki Observing the plants of the forest floor – the flowers, ferns, sedges and grasses – can be a vital way of understanding our relationship with British woodland. They tell us stories about its history and past management, and can be a visible sign of progress when we get conservation right. For centuries, woodland plants have also been part of our lives in practical ways as food and medicines, and they have influenced our culture through poetry, perfume and pub signs. In this insightful and original account, Keith Kirby explores how woodland plants in Great Britain have come to be where they are, coped with living in the shade of their bigger relatives, and responded to threats in the form of storms, fires, floods, the attentions of grazing herbivores and the effects of the changing seasons. Along the way, the reader is introduced to the work of important botanists who have walked the woods in the past, collecting information on where plants occur and why. In-depth profiles of some of our most important and popular ground flora species provide extra detail and insight. Beautifully illustrated, Woodland Flowers is a must for anyone who appreciates and wants to learn more about British woodland and its plants.

English dress in the second half of the sixteenth century has been studied in depth, yet remarkably little has been written on the earlier years, or indeed on male clothing for the whole century. The few studies that do cover these neglected areas have tended to be quite general, focusing upon garments rather than the wearers. As such this present volume fills an important gap by providing a detailed analysis of not only what people wore in Henry's reign, but why. The book describes and analyses dress in England through a variety of documents, including warrants and accounts from Henry's Great Wardrobe and the royal household, contemporary narrative sources, legislation enacted by Parliament, guild regulations, inventories and wills, supported with evidence and observations derived from visual sources and surviving garments. Whilst all these sources are utilised, the main focus of the study is built around the sumptuary legislation, or the four 'Acts of Apparel' passed by Henry between 1509 and 1547. English sumptuary legislation was concerned primarily with male dress, and starting at the top of society with the king and his immediate family, it worked its way down through the social hierarchy, but stopped short of the poor who did not have sufficient disposable income to afford the items under consideration. Certain groups - such as women and the clergy - who were specifically excluded from the legislation, are examined in the second half of the book. Combining the consideration of such primary sources with modern scholarly analysis, this book is invaluable for anyone with an interest in the history of fashion, clothing, and consumption in Tudor society.

Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib was born in Agra in the closing years of the eighteenth century. He wrote in both Urdu and Persian and was also a great prose stylist. Ghalib fascinates his readers for many reasons, but one of the most noted qualities in Ghalib was that he was a careful, even strict, editor of his work. It is said that he discarded or disregarded more than half of his Urdu verses. These verses were forgotten for long, until as late as 1918, in the library of the princely state of Bhopal. In 1921, they were edited and published as a new Divan-e Ghalib. In Flowers in a Mirror, Mehr Afshan Farooqi continues her research in the strain of her first book, A Wilderness at My Doorstep. She examines Ghalib’s approach to his work, the world in which he lived and composed, and ultimately, his genius. She selects 30 ghazals from the rejected corpus, translates them into English and provides an erudite, sparkling critical commentary. Through this book, she highlights the significance of marginalized poetry and the need to reinstate the forgotten verses in our lives and hearts.

The senses can be powerful triggers for memories of our past, eliciting a range of both positive and negative emotions. The smell or taste of a long forgotten sweet can stimulate a rich emotional response connected to our childhood, or a piece of music transport us back to our adolescence. Sense memories can be linked to all the senses - sound, vision, and even touch can also trigger intense and emotional memories of our past. In The Proust Effect, we learn about why sense memories are special, how they work in the brain, how they can enrich our daily life, and even how they can help those suffering from problems involving memory. A sense memory can be evoked by a smell, a taste, a flavour, a touch, a sound, a melody, a colour or a picture, or by some other involuntary sensory stimulus. Any of these can triggers a vivid, emotional reliving of a forgotten event in the past. Exploring the senses in thought-provoking scientific experiments and artistic projects, this fascinating book offers new insights into memory - drawn from neuroscience, the arts, and professions such as education, elderly care, health care therapy and the culinary profession.

Interior designer Edward Bulmer breathes new life into centuries-old houses with a sympathy that is rooted in a deep understanding of the past, transforming them into comfortable homes designed for modern living. Edward Bulmer is part of a new generation of designers working on historical houses with an eye on designs that appeal to contemporary families and active lifestyles while at the same time respecting the classical traditions that have made the British country house style so popular today. With a modern eye, Bulmer combines his love for the well-worn and timeless with natural textures as well as rich new color palettes and finishes, as embodied by his line of all-natural, toxic-free paints that embrace both traditional and eclectic tastes. In his first book, Bulmer takes readers on in-depth tours of his work in some of Britain’s grandest homes, including Althorp, Goodwood, Pitshill House, and Broughton Hall, along with his work for private clients, highlighting his own stunning home, a Queen Anne manor house built in 1700. Bulmer and his family have spent the last twenty years turning this country farmhouse into a comfortable, practical home—with a working organic farm—that perfectly accommodates the demands of contemporary living. It has become a laboratory for his design practice and is also the base for his paint company, which he operates out of an old granary converted into a studio.