Warm and Snug: The History of the Bed (Sutton History Classics)
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Book Overview
In this richly detailed book, Lawrence Wright takes an amusing and entertaining look at the place where we spend a third of our lives -- bed. From a Neolithic stone bed unearthed at Skara Brae to the bed (c. 1350 BC) from Tutankhamen's tomb, from stark Anglo-Saxon designs to ornate early Renaissance beds and elaborate State bedchambers, this is a fascinating journey through the history of social, sexual and sanitary attitudes to the design of beds. Lavishly illustrated with over 200 images, including early wood-engravings and etchings and later contemporary drawings, this book explores beautiful, bizarre and humorous approaches to beds. Chippendale, in his Chinese period, created an elegant lacquered and gilt bed in strange contrast to his fantastic design for one with such an elaborate and overpowering superstructure that the bed itself looks like a small cushion. In modern times, the need for space inspired more practical designs such as wardrobe beds and American metal folding beds. Filled with a wealth of curious facts this is an ideal book for anyone interested in the history of everyday things. Book jacket.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0710023316
ISBN13:9780710023315
Release Date:January 1962
Publisher:Routledge & Kegan Paul PLC
Length:368 Pages
Weight:1.65 lbs.
Customer Reviews
1 rating
Light and comforting as a featherbed
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
Though it seems to have been well researched, this is not a scholarly work, at least not the usual kind. It is, rather, an informative, offbeat, and (at least to my mind) very funny account of humankind's efforts over the centuries to get a decent night's sleep. The arrangements, contraptions, and methods employed have been astonishingly varied and mostly unsatisfactory. Mr. Wright (a onetime R.A.F officer as I recall) is a graceful and witty writer, joining a somewhat Will Cuppy-ish sensibility to a smooth and civilized style. This has been for many years one of my favorite books (in the 1962 Routledge & Kegan Paul hardcover edition), and I'm delighted to see it back in print.
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