Charles L. Eastlake was an architect and furniture designer. His ideas on furnishings and home decoration were published in The Queen magazine for years before the publication in 1868 of his influential book, Hints on Household Taste. First publication in the United States followed in 1872.

Eastlake saw women’s partiality to fashionable goods and amateur fancy work as a weakness, and he blamed them for what he and other designers saw as a lowering of standards in matters of taste. His advice was aimed at a female audience, hoping to encourage them in matters of tasteful decoration. The book served as a model for the plethora of publications that followed, offering all manner of advice in matters concerning home decoration.

Image courtesy Brigham Young University, Harold B. Lee Library, via archive.org