City of Belmont - Ruth Faulkner Public Library

Bitten by witch fever, wallpaper & arsenic in the Victorian home, Lucinda Hawksley

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 250-253) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Bitten by witch fever

bibliography

Lucinda Hawksley

wallpaper & arsenic in the Victorian home

Beautiful to look at and compelling to read, this book is a highly original and captivating volume that interleaves facsimile sections of alluring, arsenic-laden wallpapers with thought-provoking narrative. It is tracing the arresting story of the use and effects of the toxic pigments ingrained in popular wallpapers of the nineteenth century. Hawksley presents the history of Scheele's green and schweinfurt green, pigments created using arsenic, which produced the vibrant shades whose brilliance made them instant favourites with wallpaper designers and householders alike. With the aid of contemporary case studies and reports in the press, she reveals how, by the middle of the century, manufacturers were producing millions of rolls of arsenical wallpaper, with devastating consequences for those working in their factories and for those living in rooms decorated with the deadly designs. The wallpaper sections display dazzling long-lost work from the great designers and printers of the age, including Christopher Dresser, Corbiere, Son & Brindle, Charles Knowles & Co. and Morris & Co.--whose owner was famously dismissive of the fatal effects of living with arsenic-filled wallpapers

Introduction: Arsenic & Victorian paper hangings -- Chapter one: Arsenic murder & myth -- Chapter two: Madness in the method; Poison in the process -- Chapter three: Arsenic in the home -- Chapter four: The wallpaper designers -- Chapter five: The public debate -- Chapter six: Getting away from it all -- Chapter seven: The rise of arsenic-free wallpaper

Wallpaper & arsenic in the Victorian homeWallpaper and arsenic in the Victorian home