Browse by Subject

Efacsimile titles are chosen to complement topics in 18th – early 19th century American material culture. Publications from earlier and later time periods and other geographical regions are also selectively provided for context and contrast. To investigate books by topic, we suggest the following groupings (arranged chronologically)

• Architecture and Building

  Explore a digital collection of historical architectural and building texts, featuring works from the 17th to early 20th centuries, including design manuals, treatises, and surveys.

• Bird Illustration and Natural History

  Explore a collection of historical bird illustrations and natural history texts, including classic works by Catesby, Wilson, Lear, and others, available via UW-Madison Digital Collections.

• Botanical Illustration

  Explore a collection of digitized 18th and 19th-century botanical illustration texts, featuring works by Edwards, Bowles, Thornton, Brookshaw, and Gleadall.

• Ceramics

  Explore a curated collection of historical texts and scholarly resources focused on ceramics, pottery, and decorative arts, spanning the 18th century to modern research.

• China—influence and Chinoiserie

  Explore a curated collection of historical text sources and designs documenting China’s influence and the Chinoiserie style in decorative arts, ranging from 1673 to 1867.

• Classical antiquity—influence

  Browse a collection of digitized historical texts and source materials examining the influence of classical antiquity on decorative arts, architecture, and design.

• Drawing/painting instruction manuals

  Explore a curated collection of historical drawing and painting instruction manuals and decorative arts texts dating from the 18th and 19th centuries.

• Furniture and decorative objects

  Browse a digital collection of historic texts on furniture and decorative arts, featuring design manuals, exhibition catalogs, and scholarly guides from the 18th to 20th centuries.

• Gardens and garden architecture

  Explore this digital collection of historic texts on gardens and garden architecture, featuring 18th and 19th-century works on landscape design, ornamental gardening, and structures.

• Home interiors

  Explore a curated collection of historical texts and design manuals on home interiors, featuring classic works on architecture, decoration, and furniture from 1756 to 1916.

• Japan—influence

  Explore text sources on Japanese influence in decorative arts, featuring historical publications like “Le Japon Artistique” (1888–91).

• Metalwork

  Explore this curated collection of historical texts and primary sources detailing American metalwork, including colonial silver, pewter, and early American craftsmanship.

• Ornament and decorative influences

  Explore a digital collection of historical texts on ornament and decorative influences, featuring architectural guides, design journals, and ornamental studies from 1673 to 1916.

• Printed in America before 1900

  Browse a digital collection of American decorative arts and design publications, featuring historical texts on architecture, furniture, bird studies, and manufacturing from 1795–1903.

• Work and behavior

  Browse a collection of historical texts and manuals on work, industry, trades, and craftsmanship from the 17th to early 20th centuries. Explore digital sources on decorative arts.

• World’s Fair exhibition catalogs

  Browse a collection of digitized exhibition catalogs from historical World’s Fairs, including the 1851 London, 1867 Paris, and 1876 Centennial International Exhibitions.