Description

To celebrate The Bayeux Tapestry’s historic return to the UK in 2026 – its first trip to British soil in 900 years – this stunning hardback edition of embroidery expert Jan Messent’s tour de force aims to shed light on the Tapestry’s creation.

Journey through this colourful, hand-drawn account of the Anglo-Saxon artisans who created one of the world’s most famous embroideries: the incomparable Bayeux Tapestry.

“Everybody has heard of the Bayeux Tapestry, but how was such a vast project actually tackled, who made it, what do all the pictures mean and what sort of stitches were used in its making? All these questions and more get answered in this beautiful and unusual book.” Myshelf.com

This fascinating historical guide, re-issued in a stunning collector’s hardback format, examines the following questions:

Who were the embroiderers of the Bayeux Tapestry?
What were the embroiderers’ tools, their materials, and how could such a massive project have been designed and organised?
Under what working conditions was the Bayeux Tapestry constructed?

In this book Jan draws upon her own experience as an embroiderer and artist to piece together all the clues she can find in the tapestry itself. This unique guide gives a thoughtful and researched explanation of how the tapestry was stitched, placing its creation in a plausible context; it celebrates the craftsmanship of the incredible forgotten women who poured their creativity and skill into its creation.

This book is comprised of an introduction, seven beautifully hand-drawn and handwritten chapters, and a gorgeous landscape of the author’s finished reconstruction. At the back of the book, you can find some recommended reading and all of the text transcribed into a printed typeface. For this special collector’s edition, a new preface has been written by Jan, acknowledging the new discoveries that have been made since the book’s initial publication 25 years ago.

About the author: Jan Messent is a renowned embroiderer, Art, History and English teacher. Jan has lectured about these subjects worldwide and taught embroidery to the members of the Embroiderer’s Guild. In 1996 she was commissioned to create a reconstruction of the missing last eight feet of the Bayeux Tapestry, which led her to write this considered and carefully illustrated book. Her exploration of the history of the tapestry is written from a designer’s and embroiderer’s perspective, providing a unique insight into the practicalities of producing such a piece.

This book is a hardback reissue of The Bayeux Tapestry Embroiderers’ Story (9781844485840) published in 2010.