HERB - Re: Dye Bibliography

[Wendy Freeman/Otte]

Sorry my response took so long - I had to find time to write this from home. 
Here's my standard dyeing bibliography, from my most-used book down to
reference only:

Fraser, Jean.  Traditional Scottish Dyes.  ISBN: 0-86241-575-6
- Simple & fun, won't scare beginners.  Limited to dyes used in Scotland
(native & imported).  Has a line drawing of the plant, Latin and gaelic name,
species variations, easy instructions for dyepot & color variations, and some
historical bits about each.  Mostly Lesser Dyes.

Cannon, John & Margeret. Dye Plants & Dyeing.   ISBN:1-871569-74-5
- A list of major dyeplants from around the world (Latin & common names),
their use through history, their origin, the chemicals that affect the color,
the affects of different mordants, etc.  Great for background info, but does
not include how-to instructions.

Liles, J.N.  The Art & Craft of Natural Dyeing:Traditional Recipes for Modern
Use.  ISBN: 0-87049-670-0
- Great for getting difficult dyevats to work.  Has an obsession for details
(97.5 degrees!!?) that drives me insane, and uses a lot of modern methods. 
But he includes the history of each dye, recipes ranging from ancient "sig"
(fermented urine) vats to modern, color "recipes" using multiple dyes, and
troubleshooting tips.

Van Stralen, Trudy. Indigo, Madder, and Marigold.  ISBN: 0-934026-86-6
- Major dyes.  The intro is the best part - talks about how to do "big-vat"
dyeing, and get the same shade every time.  Some history of each dye. 
Excellent pictures and suggestions for overdyes.

Bolton, Eileen M.  Lichens for Vegetable Dyeing.  ISBN: 1-56659-001-9
- The primary book for lichen-dyeing.  Discusses the boiling water method &
the ammonia vat method of extracting the dyes.  The drawn & colored pictures,
along with the scientific description, are supposed to help identify the
lichens.

Buchanan, Rita.  A Dyer’s Garden.  ISBN: 1-883010-07-1
- Discusses planning & growing a dyegarden.  I find it a little heavy on the
American dyes.

Rosetti, Gioanventura.  The Plictho: Instructions in the Art of the Dyers
Which Teaches the Dyeing of Woolen Cloths, Linens, Cottons, And Silk by the
Great Art As Well as by the Common.  1548.  Translation by Edelstein, Sidney
M. and Borghetty, Hector C.  The M.I.T. Press, Cambridge.  1969.
- Primary resource - and it almost makes sense!  Fascinating reading on
recipes stolen from the Dyeing Guilds of the era.  Translation is fairly good,
although there are arguments about some words. Includes woodcuts showing
dyeing equipment.

Brother Cadfeal's Herbal Garden
- This is my primary check for the question: Was it raised as a garden plant
within the SCA timeperiod?  Also includes Latin & period names for the plants,
and interesting tidbits.

Culpeper's Herbal
- Secondary "Is it in SCA timeperiod?" checkpoint, although it's not been very
useful - Culpeper ignored most dyeplants.

A scattering of New Age herbals...
- Useful for checking Latin names, common names, and varieties.  Also usually
has big pretty pictures to help identify the plant.  (I had an embarrassing
mixup between Yarrow & Mugwort a few years ago...got a pretty green, though.)
----
I just picked up a new dyebook, Natural Dyeplants & Processes by Jack Kramer,
which looks like another excellent beginner book - everything is laid out in a
logical order with simple, yet in-depth, explanations.  No historical info,
but one of the best mordant chapters I have seen.

I agree with Mistress Brahomira - the Creative Anachronist on Dyeing has a
rather long list of potential dyeplants, but has not been very useful in the
long run.  And the Prehistoric Textiles is wonderful in many areas - it's just
new enough to my bookshelf that I cannot speak for its usefulness for dyeing.
I've been using it for loom-building, instead.

-Lady Wyllow MacMuireadhaigh
Barony of Loch Soillier, Ansteorra

> ------------------------------
> 
> Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2000 13:25:28 -0700
> From: Prydwen <gryphon at carlsbadnm.com>
> Subject: HERB - Herb- Dyestuffs???
> 
> Greetings all,
> 
>   Jadwiga just gave us a nice bibliography of medieval plants used in 
> cooking and for medicinals, and I thank her greatly.  However, I'm getting 
> into spinning and weaving and am looking for some books on plants and 
> mordants used for medieval dying.  Could some one please post some good 
> sources, so I can start haunting ABEBooks.com? 8^D
> 
> Thanks,
> Prydwen
> 
> 


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