The Chemistry of Pottery

Easton, PA: Chemical Publishing Co., 1895. First (only) Edition.. Original publisher's red pebble grain cloth.. Very good.. 8vo, [2], vi, [1] - 197, [3 - adverts] pp. + frontispiece and one inserted plate; text illustrations.

An important book by a key founding member of the early Rookwood Pottery works. The title page lists him as formerly being the Superintendent of the pottery. This book is virtually unique in the community for its open discussion of clay composition and formulation of glazes. He, along with Mary Louise McLaughlin, were the source of the innovative techniques and glazes produced for Rookwood, whose founder, Maria L Nichols Storer, hired them both. Mc Laughlin codified many of her techniques and discoveries in her publications, e.g., her rare, early, 96 pp. pamphlet, Pottery Decoration Under the Glaze, published in Cincinnati by Robert Clarke in 1880. Langenbeck was an early associate in the years before Storer founded the Rookwood Pottery; he provided instruction to her in China painting. His role expanded after he was hired and the pottery growing. In those early years Cincinnati was a "hotbed" of ceramic innovation and within a decade spawned a number of competitive enterprises and drew a number of talented beginners into the field, e.g., Artus van Briggle. Langenbeck's work was fundamental to each of these since his approach was through the chemistry of the clay and glazes and changes imparted by altered formulae rather than the traditional "mechanical" consideration of working the clay. See Anita Ellis, The Ceramic Career of M. Louise McLaughlin, and her history of the Rookwood Pottery.