Table of Contents

Introduction: Arsenic & Victorian Paper Hangings • 1. Arsenic Murder & Myth 2. Madness in the Method; Poison in the Process • 3. Arsenic in the Home • 4. The Wallpaper Designers • 5. The Public Debate • 6. Getting Away From It All • 7. The Rise of Arsenic-free Wallpaper • Appendix

Promotional Information

An entertaining - and beautiful - hybrid of Victorian social history and design resource book, which delves into the dark history of 19th-century arsenic-riddled wallpapers

About the Author

Lucinda Hawksley is the author of three biographies of Victorian artists: Lizzie Siddal, Kate Perugini (née Dickens) and Princess Louise. She also writes about art history, social history, literature and the life and works of her great-great-great-grandfather Charles Dickens. Lucinda is a Pre-Raphaelite and Aestheticism expert and a regular lecturer at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Reviews

'A highly original and beautifully illustrated volume that contrasts alluring, poison-laden wallpapers with thought-provoking narrative' - Town Daily

'Like Horrible Histories, but for grown-ups with a keen interest in interior design' - Emerald Street

'Lucinda Hawksley explores the fascinating history of the use of arsenic in textiles and wallpapers. The book is beautifully made' - It’s Nice That

'In Hawksley's engaging prose, Morris comes across as a contradictory figure - just like the poisonously beautiful wallpaper that adorned so many Victorian homes and like the sumptuous pages of this handsome book, hiding a dark social history within' - World of Interiors

'The bible on this topic – and gorgeous to boot' - BBC History