GOBELINS TAPESTRY. LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY 252 Luxembourg, Paris GOBELINS TAPESTRY. LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY 253 Pantheon, Paris THE ADORATION 256 Merton Abbey Tapestry. Figures by Burne-Jones DAVID INSTRUCTING SOLOMON IN THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE 257 Merton Abbey Tapestry. Burne-Jones, Artist TRUTH BLINDFOLDED 258 Merton Abbey Tapestry. Byram Shaw, Artist THE PASSING OF VENUS 260 Merton Abbey Tapestry. Cartoon by Burne-Jones ANGELI LAUDANTES 261 Merton Abbey Tapestry AMERICAN (BAUMGARTEN) TAPESTRY COPIED FROM THE GOTHIC 262 DRYADS AND FAUNS 263 From Herter Looms, New York, 1910 THE TAPESTRY BOOK CHAPTER I A FOREWORD The commercial fact that tapestries have immeasurably increased in value within the last five years, would have little interest were it not that this increase is the direct result of America's awakened appreciation of this form of art. It has come about in these latter days that tapestries are considered a necessity in the luxurious and elegant homes which are multiplying all over our land. And the enormous demand thus made on the supply, has sent the prices for rare bits into a dizzy altitude, and has made even the less perfect pieces seem scarce and desirable. The opinion of two shrewd men of different types is interesting as bearing on the subject of tapestries. One with tastes fully cultivated says impressively, "Buy good old tapestries whenever you see them, for there are no more." The other says bluffly, "Tapestries? You can't touch 'em. The prices have gone way out of sight, and are going higher every day." The latter knows but one view, the commercial, yet both are right, and these two views are at the bottom of the present keen interest in tapestries in our country. Outside of this, Europe has collections which we never can equal, and that thought alone is enough to make us snatch eagerly at any opportunity to secure a piece. We may begin with our ambition set on museum treasures, but we can come happily down to the friendly fragments that fit our private purses and the wall-space by the inglenook. Tapestries are not to be bought lightly, as one buys a summer coat, to throw aside at the change of taste or circumstance. They demand more of the buyer than mere money; they demand that loving understanding and intimate appreciation that exists between human friends. A profound knowledge of tapestries benefits in two ways, by giving the keenest pleasure, and by providing the collector--or the purchaser of a single piece--with a self-protection that is proof against fraud, unconscious or deliberate.