about the cover illustration

The figure on the cover of Go in Practice, Second Edition is captioned “Habit of the Wife of a Russian Peasant in 1768.” The illustration is taken from Thomas Jefferys’ A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Ancient and Modern, published in London between 1757 and 1772. The title page states that these are hand-colored copperplate engravings, heightened with gum arabic.

In those days, it was easy to identify where people lived and what their trade or station in life was just by their dress. Manning celebrates the inventiveness and initiative of the computer business with book covers based on the rich diversity of regional culture centuries ago, brought back to life by pictures from collections such as this one.