Nineteenth-Century Design

This four-volume edition of primary source materials documents the histories of design across the long nineteenth century. Each volume is arranged by appropriate sub-themes and it is the first set of primary sources to be gathered together in this comprehensive and accessible format.

Design refers to more than simply products and personalities or even cultural ideas, it involves consideration of ways of design thinking and applications as well as the philosophies and the other disciplines that impinge upon it. Here, the first volume discusses the theories and discourses that underpinned nineteenth-century design, ranging from design reform to aesthetics, and from the question of ornament to design education. The second volume looks at the designed objects, images and spaces that were created in the period. These include discussion of design in interiors, industry, fashion, graphics and architecture amongst others. The third volume considers the issues of design production and practices including debates about the role of machine and craft and the impact of new materials and technologies. The last volume looks at actors, intermediaries and mediators associated with the design domain. Taken together these sources, with their contextual introductions and headnotes, present a valuable overview of a broadly defined design culture during the long nineteenth century.

The volumes will be of interest to a range of scholars and students, including those in art and design history, visual culture, and nineteenth-century material culture. They will also be of interest to a broad range of scholars working in areas including aesthetics, gender, politics and philosophy.