NONFICTION - Dec. 12, 1993

THE BOOK OF SILK by Philippa Scott. (Thames & Hudson: $65.) From the Heian period in Japan (794-1185), when a lady at court might have worn 20 silk kimono at one time, to the turn-of-the-century, when the Italian designer Mariano Fortuny created dresses that draped the wearer’s body like a sculpture in motion, the appeal of silk has been clearly apparent. Philippa Scott takes us on a journey along the legendary Silk Road that stretched overland from China to Rome, through Ottoman Turkey, Persia and India, tracing the history of silk from the beginning of sericulture in China around 2677 BC to the fashion houses of the 20th Century.

This lavishly illustrated book--which includes a reference section of terms, a section on how to collect and care for silk, plus a list of museums with important textile collections--is the first and seemingly definitive comprehensive publication on the history of silk.