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1950	We acquired this object.
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2013	This was an Object of the Day.
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2025	You found it!

Dyer's Record Book (USA)

This is a Dyer's record book. It was made by Edmund Barnes. It is dated 1820–39 and we acquired it in 1950. Its medium is label: leather binding, pen and ink on paper pages, printed cotton samples. It is a part of the Textiles department.

A Recipe Book for Dyestuffs

In the Textiles collection is a wonderful example of a dyer’s record book for printed textiles. The book has special significance as it was the personal property of Edmund Barnes, a textile dyer and printer from northern England. Barnes was working at an unspecified print works, probably in the early 1820s, when he began recording his dye recipes. The inside cover has an inscription: “Blackford Bridge near Bury,” which is near Manchester, England – an area known for its leading role in the development and mass manufacture of printed textiles in the nineteenth century.

Study of Barnes’ book reveals that at some point in late 1820s, Barnes left England for New Hampshire where he was employed by the Dover Manufacturing Company to teach American apprentices the practice of “steam printing,” a process used to produce colorfast fabric. His first entry there is “Dover Nov 18th 1829," and he continued to add recipes and swatches until the early 1830s. “Providence” is inscribed on the inside back cover of the book, and research shows that Barnes left New Hampshire for Rhode Island as another of his record books is in the Museum at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Barnes worked in the textile industry in the period before the development of synthetic dyes. Cotton could be resistant to the many forms of dyestuffs that readily dyed fibers like silk and wool. Barnes’ book contains dye recipes for cotton that include typical ingredients like cochineal, madder and logwood. Other substances used were alum, dung, lignin, pipe clay, prussiate of potassium, and chromate of potash. Some of these ingredients are metallic salts or mordants traditionally used in applying dyestuffs to cotton. Mordants act on dye molecules by breaking their existing chemical bonds so they will form new bonds with the cotton fabric. The dyer's record book provides a fascinating glimpse into the chemistry and manufacture of early nineteenth century textiles.

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled A Recipe Book for Dyestuffs.

It is credited Museum purchase through gift of Jaques Séligmann.

Sample Book, Genuine Turkey Red
label: woven cotton samples, leather binding, paper label, brass rivets.
Gift of Harvey Smith.
1967-20-35

Its dimensions are

H x W: 21 x 16.5 cm (8 1/4 x 6 1/2 in.)

It is inscribed

On p. 33: "Nov. 18th, 1829." On front cover: "BLACKFORD BRIDGE NEAR BURY SEPT. 7TH. EDMUND BARNS." On fly leaf at back (torn): "Edmund Barnes, Providence."

Cite this object as

Dyer's Record Book (USA); Made by Edmund Barnes (English, n.d.); label: leather binding, pen and ink on paper pages, printed cotton samples; H x W: 21 x 16.5 cm (8 1/4 x 6 1/2 in.); Museum purchase through gift of Jaques Séligmann; 1950-99-1

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2CeD2/
Accession Number 1950-99-1
Object ID 18386407