John Long's coverled book, 1815

John Long's coverled book, 1815

Author: Long, John

Year: 1815

Haycock Township, Bucks County, [Penn.], 1815 1 v. (52 p.) ; 195 x 197 mm John Long's Coverled Book is a handwritten manuscript containing diagrams and instructions for the weaving of geometric patterns into coverleds, or coverlets. The instructions are for double weaving on a loom, which is also called a summer and winter pattern. The book's original cover has been pasted onto new boards. Two hands can be identified in the text: that of the original author, John Long, and of the subsequent owner, John Bechtel. The manuscript's title page indicates that John Long wrote it in Haycock Township, Bucks County, [Pennsylvania] in 1815. Three years later it passed into the possession of John Bechtel, who added more patterns as well as inscriptions in German. Like Long, Bechtel lived in Bucks County, outside of Philadelphia. In addition to weaving patterns, the manuscript contains two copies of a short patriotic passage on the Battle of Baltimore. The first version was written in John Long's hand. Bechtel recopied the verse on the same page at a later date. The manuscript is heavily illustrated with 94 ink-drawn diagrams of weaving patterns. Diagrams for the creation of smaller, repeated p