ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly considers the publishing history of nineteenth-century design. Next, it moves to consider the major design issues of the century, which is followed by an overview of the individual volume content that delves into these matters. Discussing the work of the artist Benjamin West, the Library of Fine Arts in an article titled 'The British School of Design' used the term specifically in relation to fine art. The Industrial Revolution is a blanket term that embraces the technological, scientific, and industrial innovations, that were further developed during the century thus fuelling a massive increase in production, and subsequent consumption. Nevertheless, the social changes that included the growth of the concept of domesticity, a clear work ethic, the model of improvement, the developing roles for women, the increasing educational and employment opportunities, and the growth of leisure, were particularly linked to the rise of the middle classes.
