The book is not a catalogue of the exhibition, nor is it a complete guide to the history of, and all the different techniques used to create decorated paper, but instead presents a visual introduction to the Schmoller Collection, illustrated with some of the author's favourite examples and supported with discussions of the historical context and the techniques used in decorated paper making. With 205 full colour images illustrating the variety held in the collection, it includes chapters on gold-embossed papers, marbling, block printing, machine printing, paste papers, miscellaneous techniques including Batik (or Java) and air brushed papers and a selection of Oriental papers, mostly from Japan, China and India and covering a variety of techniques. This book is a helpful aid to understanding a neglected area of graphic design and will be appreciated by artists, students and researchers of all kinds with an interest in design, surface pattern, book history and much more.

To Brighten Things Up: the Schmoller Collection of Decorated Papers, by Tanya Schmoller, with a foreword by Mirjam Foot, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2008.
ISBN: Hardback 978-1-905476-27-5

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