An Elizabethan Inheritance

collection of sixteenth and seventeenth century textile furnishings. That so much should have survived in such good condition is little short of miraculous, and is due in part to the formidable Countess of Shrewsbury, better known as Bess of Hardwick, who built the house in the 1590s, and in her will instructed her heirs to '[sic] have speciall care and regard to p'serve the same from all manner of wett, mothe and other hurte or spoyle thereof'. In this lavishly illustrated and authoritative introduction to the collection, Santina Levey places the textiles in their day-to-day context. Using account books and other archival material, she describes the origins of the different types of furnishing, whether bought ready-made or put together and decorated by embroiderers. Inventories, letters, and personal reminiscences are used to chart the later history of the house and the inevitable alterations that four hundred years of use wrought on the original furnishings.With its glossary and bibliography, the book is an invaluable source of information for anyone interested in learning how Bess's 'Bedding hangings and other furniture of household stuffe [sic]' were created and how some survived the centuries.