Friday 24 March 2017

The Button Box, by Lynn Knight.




The story of women in the 20thcentury, told through the clothes they wore

Lynn Knight

Vintage paperback 2017

£ 8.99 UK/$18.99 CAN

ISBN 978-0-099-59309-6



This has nothing to do with papercraft, although I have noticed that papercrafters are incredibly fond of button embellishments. Neither is this a book review – because I have not yet read this title. I am so very excited about my excellent find, I want to share it with you. This is just out in paperback. I can’t imagine I missed it when it was published in hardcover last year.

Anyhow, this is a social history of women told through the buttons in Lynn Knight’s family button box. (I had a button box – it was black and had a golden embossed swordfish on the lid... my mysterious treasure trove.) Lynn Knight has also written a bio of Clarice Cliff, the renowned (and very collectable) ceramic artist, which is also on my very long reading list. Each chapter of The Button Box has a flagship illustration of a button – jet button, shank button, toggle... :) Are you tempted to read?

This book is surfing on a lit trend – using objects as a way in to biography or social history. I heartily recommend The Real Jane Austen, a life in small things, by Paula Byrne, which was, I think, the first of its kind (all credit to Paula Byrne, admired and copied by many). Nothing papercrafty about that either, although Jane Austen had a lovely writing desk which is featured within.

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