Working with the Wool is among the most beloved practical guides to Navajo weaving ever published. Written by Noël Bennett, a recognized authority on the craft, together with Tiana Bighorse, a Navajo weaver who learned the skill from her mother, it walks the reader step by step from building the upright loom through warping, battening, and the rhythms of weaving a rug. Robert Jacobson's clear drawings make the process legible to a beginner.
The book is as much an act of cultural transmission as a manual, written for free spirits drawn to a craft that requires little new material to begin, and for collectors who have long admired the products of the Navajo loom and wondered about the process that gave them birth. Issued by Flagstaff's Northland Publishing, this copy is labeled a first edition but is in fact the twelfth printing of 1993, a detail that speaks to how steadily the book has stayed in demand. Its enduring usefulness is the real reason to document it.
Labeled 'First Edition' — but the twelfth printing (1993)
The copyright page reads 'First Edition / Twelfth Printing, 1993.' A perfect example of why 'First Edition' wording alone never proves a first printing — this is the twelfth. This is a Northland Publishing book; see how Northland Publishing states its first printings.
| Author | Noël Bennett and Tiana Bighorse |
| Publisher | Northland Publishing |
| Year | 1993 |
| ISBN | 0-87358-084-2 |
| Edition | Labeled 'First Edition' — but the twelfth printing (1993) |
| Condition | Softcover, light wear. |
| Topic | Navajo weaving instruction |
Photographs © New Mexico Literacy Project, licensed CC BY 4.0 — reuse with attribution. This is an identification and provenance record of a real donation; no appraisal or valuation is offered.
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