Bitten By Witch Fever: Wallpaper & Arsenic in the Victorian Home

Product Description Winner: Best Trade Illustrated Book, British Book Design & Production Awards 2017 ‘As to the arsenic scare a greater folly it is hardly possible to imagine: the doctors were bitten as people were bitten by the witch fever.’ ― William Morris on toxic wallpapers, 1885. Bitten by Witch Fever presents facsimile samples of 275 of the most sumptuous wallpaper designs ever created by designers and printers of the age, including Christopher Dresser and Morris & Co. For the first time in their history, every one of the samples shown has been laboratory tested and found to contain arsenic. Interleaved with the wallpaper sections, evocative commentary guides you through the incredible story of the manufacture, uses and effects of arsenic, and presents the heated public debate surrounding the use of deadly pigments in the sublime wallpapers of a newly industrialized world. Chosen by Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss for their Belletrist Book Club's Gift Guide. Review 'Lucinda Hawksley's intriguing Bitten by Witch Fever is surely the most beautifully designed and produced book this year.' --The Art Quarterly 'A quirky book examining a killer in the Victorian home… Lucinda Hawksley tells the story in chapters interleaved with fabulous designs.' --Guardian, G2 'In Hawksley's engaging prose, Morris comes across as a contradictory figure - just like the poisonously beautiful wallpaper that adorned so many Victorian homes and like the sumptuous pages of this handsome book, hiding a dark social history within.' World of Interiors 'Like Horrible Histories, but for grown-ups with a keen interest in interior design'--Emerald Street 'A highly original and beautifully illustrated volume that contrasts alluring, poison-laden wallpapers with thought-provoking narrative.' --Town Daily 'compelling... richly illustrated' --Elle Decoration '...Lucinda Hawksley explores the fascinating history of the use of arsenic in textiles and wallpapers. The book is beautifully made…' --It s Nice That 'A quirky book examining a killer in the Victorian home…Lucinda Hawksley tells the story in chapters interleaved with fabulous designs.’ -- Guardian, G2 'Fascinating.’ -- The Chromologist 'A very covetable book…The stark facts of Lucinda Hawksley's text juxtaposed with the luxury of the decoration bring it all into sharp focus.’ -- Dove Grey Reader These elaborate decorative wall coverings were stunningly beautiful … the elaborate styles are recreated, complete with the rich hues of the time’ --BBC Culture, Design Books of the Year Book Description An entertaining - and beautiful - hybrid of Victorian social history and design resource book, which delves into the dark history of 19th-century arsenic-riddled wallpapers From the Back Cover Beautiful to look at and compelling to read, Bitten by Witch Fever is a highly original and captivating volume that interleaves facsimile sections of alluring, arsenic-laden wallpapers with thought-provoking narrative, tracing the arresting story of the use and effects of the toxic pigments ingrained in popular wallpapers of the nineteenth century. Lucinda Dickens Hawksley presents the history of Scheele’s green and schweinfurt green, pigments created using arsenic, which produced the vibrant shades whose About the Author Lucinda Hawksley is the author of three biographies of Victorian artists: Lizzie Siddal, Kate Perugini (n�e Dickens) and Princess Louise. She also writes about art history, social history, literature and the life and works of her great-great-great-grandfather Charles Dickens. Lucinda is a Pre-Raphaelite and Aestheticism expert and a regular lecturer at the National Portrait Gallery in London.