A French-language history of the Valenciennes lace industry by A. Malotet, covering its origins with Françoise Badar in the 1600s through its prosperity and decline in the 18th century and the attempts at revival in the 19th and 20th centuries. One chapter describes the technique of Valenciennes lace and the organization of work in the 18th century. The book is illustrated with plates of barbes, flounces, cravats, pricked designs and related laces such as Binche and Malines, with explanatory notes on the plates. Appendices list 18th-century lacemakers, designers and pattern prickers, and 19th-century lace merchants, followed by an index of lace types and a bibliography.