A review of my upcoming book

Many thanks to Frances Grimble for reviewing my upcoming book!

The intriguingly titled Elephant's Breath and London Smoke: Historical Colour Names, Definitions & Uses is focused specifically on colors for textiles. This is indicated by the quotes selected, and implicit in the book's introduction.

It is a straightforward work. The editor, Deb Salisbury, has expended an astonishing amount of industry in combing public domain sources for references to color names. And there they are, 231 pages of quotes, alphabetized by color name, with the sources for the quotes at the end of each. Varying color definitions from contemporary fashion magazines, quotes from Victorian books on Renaissance fashions, mentions of colors with no definition: It's all there. There is no color in the book--no swatches--but in fact, there is no way anyone can reliably match an old color description to a color on a Pantone fan. The author provides 42 pages of longer quotes on colors, things such as Victorian discussions of which colors best suit various complexions and hair colors. She does not attempt to summarize trends in color fashions or in color naming (a different issue from color use, and closely related to textile and fashion marketing), nor does she provide a history of dyeing technology. This is clearly intended to be a dictionary, not an analytical work. Sixteen pages of bibliography are provided so that the reader can compare them to the sources listed in the quotes, judge for himself or herself whether the source is reliable, and seek further information.

In summary, this book could considerably shorten the search for definitions of color names by providing quotes from numerous sources--fashion magazines and fiction as well as dictionaries and encyclopedias--and of different dates.

---Frances Grimble

Lavolta Press

Beginning a new year ...

My publisher gave me a New Year present - my first review for Elephant's Breath and London Smoke - and I am thrilled!

"Over the holiday season I received the manuscript for Elephant's Breath & London Smoke from Deb Salisbury, and I am simply stunned by the breadth, scope and monumental work of this book. I firmly believe it will become an indispensable reference tool for those interested in historical fashion and colour terminology, and I'll even go farther to say I believe Elephant's Breath & London Smoke will become synonymous with other great books such as those written by Janet Arnold, R.L. Shep and others. I cannot wait to release it."

She plans to release it in February. Her website is http://www.5rivers.org/ - please have a look!


I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year celebration.

Peace and Joy

I wish everyone peace and joy for the upcoming year.

...

Off to the Publisher!

I finally got my book off to the Publisher.

Elephant's Breath and London Smoke:

Historical Color Names, Definitions, and Uses

It is a Dictionary of Colors - in the words of writers from each era, from Chaucer up to around 1920. It is mostly geared toward color in fashion and in dyeing and painting, but it takes definitions of colors from any source. I even have listings that define what that color means in an aura.

Plus I've added sections on: Advice for what colors to wear, Mourning colors, Horses' colors, and comments on colors, including the restrictions on colors in the Statutes in the 1550's.

I also made a list of the Elizabethan colours I found in wills and inventories that weren't on the approved lists.

I wrote the introduction, but almost everything else is from original sources or Victorian transcriptions (and interpretations) with each source noted after the listing. This is a serious resource for historians, costumers, and everyone who enjoys color!

See my website for more information,
http://www.mantua-maker.com/
or go to http://www.5rivers.org/.

Advance Order Discount on Two New Books

The publisher of my book, Elephant’s Breath & London Smoke: Historical Colour Names, Definitions & Uses, is offering a 25% advance order discount on two new books in her stable. The other book is How to Write a Non-fiction Book in 60 Days, by Paul Lima. 60 Days will be available early in the new year; Elephant’s Breath will be available in the spring of ‘09. While you can buy 60 Days now through Paul's web site and print on demand company, if you can wait until the new year and want the discount, put in your advance order through Five Rivers Chapmanry.

How to Write a Non-fiction Book in 60 Days, by Paul Lima. $14.95 (order before Christmas to receive a 25% discount). ISBN 978-0-9739278-4-9. 6 x 9 Trade Paperback. Release date: January 1, 2009

In the New Year, How to Write a Non-fiction Book in 60 Days will be available through online booksellers internationally, as well as select bookstores in Ontario.The title says it all. The book will show you how to create a detailed, chapter-by-chapter outline and how to write each chapter from point to point. In addition, the book includes two bonus chapters: one on self-publishing and one on constructing effective sentences and paragraphs.

Coming in Spring of 2009!

Have you ever read about a Victorian dress, and wondered:

“What color, exactly, is heliotrope?”

Did you ever read an Elizabethan novel and say:

“Did anyone really wear Puke?”

When Chaucer wrote: “his eyen bright citrin” –

did you wonder about what color is citrin?

Have you wondered when aniline dyes were invented,

how indigo was used, or how black fabric was dyed?

Perhaps you have wondered when the color London Smoke was used,

or when Eiffel red was invented.

Here is the book to tell you!

Elephant’s Breath

and

London Smoke

Historical Color Names,

Definitions, and Uses

This book will tell you about color in history – the names of colors, when they were used, how they were used, what they looked like, and where they came from. There are dye recipes, paint ingredients, poetic language and general commentary – all in the words of period writers.

You will learn about mourning colors, the effects of artificial light on color, advice on what colors to wear, the colors found in cosmetics and theatrical make-up, and the names of the colors of horses. You can read about symbolism in colors, heraldic colors, and complaints about the names of colors.

I have perused fashion magazines, books of dye recipes, art books, painter’s manuals, mineralogy guides, tomes on color theory, metaphysical texts, poetry and fiction, but especially period dictionaries and encyclopedias. Any resource that might give a hint on what a color looked like or how it may have been used was fair game, from Chaucer to Chemistry Journals.

Most of the entries were printed in English, American, Canadian and Australian publications from around 1380 to 1922. Because, French was the language of fashion, many of the English terms are French words. I have tried to explain those colors, too.

This dictionary endeavors to define color names in the words of the English speaking people who used those colors. It is especially aimed at women’s fashion, but artists will also find it useful.

If you are curious about color, you will want this book!

Available in the spring of 2009

The Recipe for Puke!

I am so thrilled! I found the recipe for Puke!

Oh, you think I am insane? Well, only a little. You see, Puke was a color used during Elizabethan times. The first Elizabeth, mind you.

Now I've been hunting and hunting for a good, period definition of Puke. It is *not* Puce - that term was invented around 1775. Puke seems to have been a dark, russet black or gray. I haven't found a clear description, but I did find a dye recipe, and I am elated!

The reason I've been hunting for Puke and Puce, Musk and Murrey, and many other colors, is that I am in the final stages of compiling a dictionary of colors in history, called:

Elephant's Breath and London Smoke:

Historical Color Names, Definitions, and Uses.

It will be published by Five Rivers in the spring, so I'd best get back to work and get it finished!