The dyer's instructer: comprising practical instructions in the art of dyeing silk, cotton, wool, and worsted and woollen goods ... containing nearly 800 receipts ; to which is added a treatise on the art of padding ...

Abstract

David Smith (1819-1892), was born in Halifax and began his working life as a dyer’s labourer. He rose to be a dyer and manufacturing chemist, and founded his own company in 1867. He wrote three books of dye recipes: The Practical Dyer’s Guide (1849); The Dyer’s Instructer (1850) and The English Dyer (1882). The books were translated into French, and also published in America. Of particular importance is that his career straddled the great development from the old dyes that had been used for centuries to the new aniline dyes. The first two books contain recipes that would have been recognisable to earlier generations of dyers; whilst the third includes many of the new dyes such as aniline black and Bismarck brown.