The Cosmopolitan Interior: Liberalism and the British Home, 1870-1914
Judith A. Neiswander
Literature on domestic interior decoration first emerged as a popular genre in Britain during the 1870s and 1880s, as middle-class readers sought decorating advice from books, household manuals, women’s magazines, and professional journals. This intriguing book examines that literature and shows how it was influenced by the widespread liberalism of the middle class.
Judith Neiswander explains that during these years liberal values—individuality, cosmopolitanism, scientific rationalism, the progressive role of the elite, and the emancipation of women—informed advice about the desirable appearance of the home. In the period preceding the First World War, these values changed dramatically: advice on decoration became more ... Read more
Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art Show Less
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