Schnürungsbuch. “Vaals-Aachen” [on the Dutch-German border], Höhere technische Schule für Tuchfabrikation, [ca. 1900]. Oblong folio (24 x 32 cm). Manuscript in German, written in black ink in a neat and legible Latin hand on paperboard leaves, comprising short instructional texts and about 2000 colour-coded weaving patterns and small samples of woven cloth mounted on both sides of the leaves. Contemporary beige half cloth.

[2 blank], [117], [1 blank] pp.Unique course in cloth weaving as taught in a German-language technical school, probably carefully noted down by one of the pupils and beautifully illustrated with nearly 2000 weaving patterns drawn on grid paper (with the various threads colour-coded) and accompanied by hundreds of samples of woven cloth, both the patterns and the cloth samples mounted on the leaves. Most pages contain primarily patterns and samples, with only brief captions, but the occasional longer text sometimes run over a few pages. This German text provides an explanation of the patterns and their colour-coding, the various kinds of cloth and the weaving process. Many of the patterns are shown in red, black and white, but some add yellow and/or blue, a few use brown and a few use only red and white or only black and white. The weaving patterns and cloth samples are numbered as 1214 figures, but many numbers include two patterns or samples and some as many as five, and occasionally a number has been accidentally repeated. There are also at least 80 unnumbered patterns and samples.The title's reference to the school in "Vaals-Aachen" probably means it was situated in Vaals but served German speakers in both communities. The area around Aachen had produced cloth for centuries, but after an economic depression in the mid-19th century it emerged and became known for its textile manufacturing by the 1880s. The present manuscript course forms a rich and splendid example of the thorough education its young people received in technical schools for a career in the cloth industry around 1900.A piece has been cut out of three leaves and some have come loose from the pages, but at least most of them are still present. The binding is slightly loose. The manuscript is generally in good condition. A remarkable and important source for any study of weaving and weaving education, also graphically fascinating and colourful.