Amazon.com description: Product Description: This lavishly illustrated book brings together a selection of English and Continental samplers of outstanding quality and interest. The selection includes examples from the fifteenth century to the twentieth, showing the development of techniques and changing fashions in design. It brings alive the many social reasons for the sampler's manufacture and decoration, from providing an early 'curriculum vitae' to illustrating the accomplishments of young ladies. The introduction and full descriptions explain their significance, style, and materials and all examples are shown in full colour.