Charles Germain de Saint-Aubin (1721–1786)

In 1770 Charles Germain de Saint-Aubin, a designer to King Louis XV, wrote his famous "L'Art du Brodeur", a study of the arts of embroidery. In 1983 the LA Museum of Art organised a major exhibition of 18th century embroidery and published this elegant hardcover book which contains not only many color photographs and descriptions of the articles in the exhibition, but also a complete translation and reprinting of Saint-Aubin's masterwork, complete with reproductions of the original copper-engraved plates illustrating embroiderer's tools, workshops, and finished pieces.