Parlor Cats

Victoriana and cats-it's a natural marriage. Celebrating the era when mousers, tabbies, and toms were swept off the farm and cherished with a passion unrivaled since ancient Egypt, Parlor Cats is a dazzling collaboration from the creators of A Victorian Scrapbook, Forget-Me-Nots, Joy to the World: A Victorian Book of LoveFor the Love of Lace, Nonsense & Common Sense, We Wish You a Merry Christmas: A Victorian Caroling Kit, and the bestselling Victoriana Calendar.

Originally adorning antique greeting cards and cut-out dolls, matchboxes and advertising trade cards, stationery and calendars, the endearing faces of Victorian cats live anew in Cynthia Hart's distinctive collages. Mixing paper ephemera from John Grossman's museum-quality Collection of Antique Images with fresh flowers, collectibles, lace and brocade, each lushly layered composition evokes a time that personified the cat as the epitome of domestic virtue.

Generously quoting from poetry, nursing rhymes, Godey's Lady's Book, and popular authors, Josephine Banks recounts the love affair between the Victorians and their cats. It's no accident that the cat is America's most popular pet-here is how it all got started. A selection of the Literary Guild. 126,000 copies in print.