Woven Words: Decoding the Silk Book

Woven Words: Decoding the Silk Book highlights a little-known but magnificent rare book from the Walters’ collection—a 19th-century prayer book woven entirely from silk on a Jacquard loom. Visitors will discover a surprising and fascinating connection between the creation of the Silk Book and the computers that shape our modern world. 

Along with the Silk Book itself, the exhibition includes a group of handwritten books that contain trade secrets of the Jacquard loom. Tablets in the gallery will display the fully digitized Silk Book and a video that demonstrates how the Jacquard loom works.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website