FROM THEN UNTIL NOW AN INTRODUCTION

In a practical handbook such as this it is impossible to enter fully into the history of the craft, especially such a controversial history of that of lace. Nevertheless, when aquiring the knowledge of any type of artistic or creative work it is tremendously interesting to have before one an outline, if only a slight one, of its ancestry and traditional characteristics. Although this book deals more with types of work that are based upon and take their name from lace that the lace itself, time will not be ill spent if for a moment we put the clock back and endeavour to link the romance of the past with the practical products of the present.