A few years ago, Nille Glaesel, who makes Viking age clothing reconstructions for the Lofoten Museum in Norway, published a substantial hardcover book about her clothing research and clothing construction methods that is beautifully illustrated with many full-color photographs of her work and was accompanied by copies of the patterns she has developed. Unfortunately for me, the book was, and is, very expensive (over $100 USD a copy on Amazon, and significantly more if you need to obtain a copy on the used book market).
Now, Ms. Glaesel has published a paperback, English-language version of her book. Amazon is selling it here for a bit under $50 USD, and other big book stores appear to be selling it for about the same price--a price that's significantly less than her hardcover edition. Amazon includes a "look inside" preview of the book. I saw the hardcover original, once, and the new paperback edition seems to have a slightly different organization but covers much the same material. Moreover, at $50 I might be able to afford, and willing to buy, it soon. I have heard a lot about people's reactions to the hardcover edition, and would like to have the paperback for my library, if only to gain a better understanding of the choices she made in her reconstructions--and perhaps of her reasons for making them.
Those of my readers interested in at least seeing what Ms. Glaesel's reproductions look like before they decide whether to purchase her book can check out pictures of them for free at her blog, Vikingdrakt.
EDIT: (2/25/2014) I'm editing this to answer Krin's question, because for some reason I can't post a comment (even though I successfully did so as recently as yesterday). Originally, I screwed up the link to where Amazon is selling the book. I've fixed it now; please let me know if it still fails to work.
The title of the book is kind of odd, which is why I didn't cite it in the post originally. The current volume is titled "Viking: Dress Clothing Garment" (or "Viking Dress Garment Clothing" if you go by the actual front cover of the book instead of what Amazon is calling it). If you want to track it down you're probably better off going by the ISBN. ISBN-10: 1494475227; ISBN-13: 978-1494475222. By the way, don't expect the book to contain a lot of research. My look at the hardcover version suggests that it's mostly interested in showing pictures and giving directions to make Viking clothing according to her ideas--she doesn't really discuss sources. Still, I'm hoping to get at least a general idea about the reasons for her choices.
Those of my readers interested in at least seeing what Ms. Glaesel's reproductions look like before they decide whether to purchase her book can check out pictures of them for free at her blog, Vikingdrakt.
EDIT: (2/25/2014) I'm editing this to answer Krin's question, because for some reason I can't post a comment (even though I successfully did so as recently as yesterday). Originally, I screwed up the link to where Amazon is selling the book. I've fixed it now; please let me know if it still fails to work.
The title of the book is kind of odd, which is why I didn't cite it in the post originally. The current volume is titled "Viking: Dress Clothing Garment" (or "Viking Dress Garment Clothing" if you go by the actual front cover of the book instead of what Amazon is calling it). If you want to track it down you're probably better off going by the ISBN. ISBN-10: 1494475227; ISBN-13: 978-1494475222. By the way, don't expect the book to contain a lot of research. My look at the hardcover version suggests that it's mostly interested in showing pictures and giving directions to make Viking clothing according to her ideas--she doesn't really discuss sources. Still, I'm hoping to get at least a general idea about the reasons for her choices.
Hi Cathy, the link to the book on amazon isn't working, I get redirected to a private bloggre space that I can't access. Can you give us the title of the book so we can hunt for it? And thanks for sharing the tip.
ReplyDelete