Le Pompe, 1559 by Santina M Levey and Patricia C Payne
Subtitle - Patterns for Venetian bobbin lace
​Across the lace world, the book Le Pompe is mentioned in hushed, reverential tones.  This books seen as one of the historical root publications of lacemaking and was referenced by a number of writers at the turn of the 19th / 20th centure.

The patterns have a heavy look to them, as though they were drawn using marker pen, but this due to the book being printed using woodblock.  Whilst to today's lacemaker, Venetian bobbin lace looks and feels like a cross between Milanese and Bedfordshire with a hint of Idrija and Russian.

​This book is split into sections:

• Facsimile of the 1559 book with an introduction by Santina M Levey
• Facsimile of a selection of pages from the 1560 edition
• Technical Section by Patricia Payne
• Glossary
• How to make your own prickings.

Bedfordshire Lace by Jean Leader
​As always, Jean has produced clear, easy to read text that compliments the colour diagrams and photos.

Although designed to stand alone, this would make a fantastic follow up book to Jean's Introduction to Bedfordshire Lace, published by the Lace Guild.

The techniques are grouped at the beginning of the book so that they are easily referenced. 

The 26 patterns take you from a very simple plaited circle, with picots through learning leaves and tallies to floral bucks.

Included in the book are the three butterflies on the front cover along with 3 collar patterns.

Duchess Lace : An Introduction by Jane Newble-de Graaf
Often mentioned in the same breath as Withof, Duchess Lace is named after Marie Henriette, Duchess of Brabant, who married the future King Leopold III of Belgium in 1853. 

​As the author points out, because this lace was in vogue until the early 1900s, it often appears as antique pieces which makes it accessible to buy actual pieces for study and reproduction.

For me, Duchess lace makes a nice bridge between Bruges Flower Lace and Honiton / Withof as it has similar techniques to Bruges, but is more delicate, which can then be a gateway into the finer and smaller laces of Honiton and Withof.

Jane takes you through the history and techniques of the lace along with discussion and help on designing your own pieces.

Royal Honiton Lace by Elsie Luxton and Yusai Fukyama
With unprecedented access to the Royal Lace collection this book shows the history of Honiton lace through it's Royal connections and support.

Access was given to the Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace and also the Royal Archives. 

The cover shows the Honiton Lace covered Christening gown originally made for Queen Victoria and used up until Prince Williams christening.

The Technique of Tonder Lace by Inge Skovgaard
At first glance, Toner lace looks very similar to Bucks Points and in fact, it has the look and feel of Bucks, however, the patterns are unique to this area of Denmark and developed independently.

​Tonder is a great lace to get into after having worked on Bucks Point.

The book covers the history of Danish lace, along with the techniques of Tonder and finally some key patterns to work through with clear diagrams, photos and explanations.

Devon Trolly Lace by Carol McFadzean
Subtitled : The lost lace of the East Devon Coast
Carol McFadzean's book throws new light on one of Devon's great laces that has lost its place in current memory to its more well known cousin, Honiton.

Its name comes from the Flemish Tolle Kant - which you can read more about here

Malmsbury Lace by Joan Blachard
My husband's Great Grandmother was head hunted in the 1880s by the Malmsbury Silk Mill and moved from her home in Essex to the small Wiltshire town.  

By the time the photo, on the back of this book was taken of the lace school in 1907, she had been managing the production of fine silk in the town for nearly 20 years.

Malmsbury lace, obviously holds a special place in my heart because of this.

Malmsbury is a sister lace to the other Wiltshire lace; Downton

What works well?

• The lace is clearly illustrated with black and white photos.

Anything that we need to take into consideration?

• The Honiton style piece on the front cover is NOT included in this book
• This book is out of print, but readily available on online book sellers, eBay and through lace suppliers

Discover: Delapre Abby in Lace by Jackie Poulter
In the summer of 2019, Delapre Abbey, in Northampton, hosted The Lace Guild's Triennial Exhibition with lace inspired by the Abbey's architecture.

This book is aimed at the intermediate to advanced lacemaker who is familiar with the techniques of torchon, Bedfordshire, Milanese and Bucks Point lacemaking.

GOZO LACE - A Selection of Bobbin Lace Patterns Designed by Dun Guzepp Diacono (1847-1924) by Consiglia Azzopardi
Consiglia came across the work of Dun Diacono whilst undertaking her Masters in Lace at the University of Malta.

Dun Diacono established Gozo as the centre for lace making in the islands.  He founded the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and established the Casa Industriale as the source of the lacemaking industry.

Dun Diacono can be credited as the father of Maltese Lace as it was his designs that moved the lacemakers away from the imported Genoese designs and to the now iconic Maltese Lace that we are familiar with.

Consiglia has also produced a book of the techniques of Gozo lace and a supplement to that volume.

Gozo Lace: An Introduction to Lace Making in the Maltese Islands by Consiglia Azzopardi
Although we talk in terms of Maltese lace, Gozo is the centre for lace making in the islands and Consiglia is one of the main champions.

Similar in construction to Bedfordshire lace, the group of laces are often called Beds / Maltese.  

The key difference between Maltese lace and Bedfordshire is the inclusion of the iconic Maltese Cross in many of the designs.
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Focusing firstly on the history of the lace, this book goes on to take you through different patterns to learn the techniques. 

Consiglia has also produced a book of historical lace patterns by Dun Guzepp Diacono and a supplement to this volume.