A collector's guide to old lace and embroidery by Mrs. R. E. Head, written for collectors of modest means. The first part covers the development of lace and the needle-point and bobbin laces of Italy, France, the Low Countries, Germany, Spain, Portugal, England and Ireland, with chapters on lace bobbins, lace and costume, and identifying lace. The second part surveys English embroidery from before the tenth century to about 1820, including black-work, stump-work, book-bindings, quilting and samplers. It ends with a glossary, a list of surviving ecclesiastical embroideries in the English provinces, a bibliography and an index. About 49 plate pages show photographs of laces, bobbins, samplers and embroidered pieces.

A short illustrated article by Mrs. Head on collecting pillow-lace bobbins. It describes English bobbins of bone and wood from the Midlands, Home Counties, Devon, Oxfordshire and Yarmouth, covering their inlays, wire and bead decoration, inscriptions, and the beaded "jingles". It ends with foreign bobbins from Portugal, Brussels, Russia (Vologda), Normandy, Spain, Italy and Malta, including bobbins with movable sheaths. Three plates show the bobbins discussed.