The Backstory of Wallpaper

Most books about wallpaper focus on surface design. This one looks below the surface to discover the material culture of wallpaper as it became popular in Europe and was transmitted to the North American colonies during its first one hundred years. It asks important questions; Was wallpaper really only for the well-to-do? Who were the people who bought wallpaper? Who sold it? Who installed it? How much did it cost? This wallpaper book is also a book about interesting characters...
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Most books about wallpaper focus on surface design. This one looks below the surface to discover the material culture of wallpaper as it became popular in Europe and was transmitted to the North American colonies during its first one hundred years. It asks important questions; Was wallpaper really only for the well-to-do? Who were the people who bought wallpaper? Who sold it? Who installed it? How much did it cost? This wallpaper book is also a book about interesting characters revealed by archival sources: Jean-Michel Papillon, whose wonderfully detailed drawings of his craft were intended for Diderot's Encyclopedia, but who was forced into the trade by his father and turned his back on it as soon as he could; Thomas Coleman, who sold wallpaper near London Bridge and did the same in Charleston, South Carolina; Dubliner Catharine Mac Cormick, one of the few local installers we know by name, representing countless female and male paperhangers who left no trace.Robert M. Kelly offers a sweeping survey of wallpaper as it developed in Western Europe. By comparing wallpaper to other wall decorations and exploring the conditions under which it grew, the foundations are discovered for the worldwide and continuing success of wallpaper, one of the most prolific and delightful decorative materials ever invented.