' This note and the mention of needles may have perhaps given the
start to the belief that embroidered work was intended, but in all
probability it only refers to the sewing of the leaves of the books upon
the bands of the back, which is done with needle and thread. Moreover,
the ladies of Little Gidding did actually sew the backs of their books
in a needlessly elaborate way, putting in ten or twelve bands where
three or four would have been ample. I also think that if embroidery had
been intended by the sentence above quoted, it would have been more
clearly mentioned. To 'emploie needles to bind Bibles' is hardly the
description one would expect if the meaning was that when bound the
Bibles were covered in embroidered work; but it may be safely
interpreted as it is written, the sewing being a most important part of
a bookbinding, and one likely to be much thought of by amateur binders,
as the nieces of Nicholas Ferrar were.
The attribution of embroidered bindings to Little Gidding may also have
been strengthened by the fact that many of the bindings made there are
in velvet, the ornamentation on which, though it is actually stamped in
gold and silver, does to some extent suggest embroidery. Indeed, I have
myself heard the remark, on showing one of these books, 'Oh, yes!
Embroidery.'
Again, a peculiarity of the Little Gidding books is, generally, their
large size, whereas the embroidered books, especially the satin ones,
are usually very small.
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