Cowie Embroidery Collection

Reference: COWIE COLLECTION             Date: 1601-1982                Extent: c. 250 volumes

The collection contains books, pamphlets and journals on the subject of embroidery, needlework, lace-making and other related crafts. 

The volumes were collected by Dr Flora Margaret Valda Cowie (née Coppen) (1913-1983), and donated to the university by her husband Professor Alfred Tennant Cowie (1916-2003) in the 1980s.

MORE INFORMATION

• The books are fully catalogued and searchable on the online catalogue.
• A complete handlist is available. Please email specialcollections@reading.ac.uk for more information

ASSOCIATED COLLECTIONS 

• Browse The MERL Library for more material on crafts
• See the Barnett Collection at The MERL for a collection of 19th- and 20th-century sewing machines
• National Institute of Research in Dairying Archive – Valda and her husband both worked at the Institute.
• Professor A.T. Cowie – an endocrinologist at the University of Reading, and Valda’s husband.