Design For Liberty

Following a vast expansion in the twentieth century, government is beginning to creak at the joints under its enormous weight. The signs are clear: a bloated civil service, low approval ratings for Congress and the President, increasing federal-state conflict, rampant distrust of politicians and government officials, record state deficits, and major unrest among public employees. In this compact, clearly written book, the noted legal scholar Richard Epstein advocates a much smaller federal government, arguing that our over-regulated state allows too much discretion on the part of regulators, which results in arbitrary, unfair decisions, rent-seeking, and other abuses. Epstein bases his classical liberalism on the twin pillars of the rule of law and of private contracts and property rights—an overarching structure that allows private property to keep its form regardless of changes in population, tastes, technology, and wealth. This structure also makes possible a restrained public administration to implement limited objectives. Government continues to play a key role as night-watchman, but with the added flexibility in revenues and expenditures to attend to national defense and infrastructure formation. Although no legal system can eliminate the need for discretion in the management of both private and public affairs, predictable laws can cabin the zone of discretion and permit arbitrary decisions to be challenged. Joining a set of strong property rights with sound but limited public administration could strengthen the rule of law, with its virtues of neutrality, generality, clarity, consistency, and forward-lookingness, and reverse the contempt and cynicism that have overcome us.

"During the frugal 1950s Liberty Co. rather cautiously dipped its toes in the waters of modem design, choosing to promote avant garde items alongside its more traditional products, so as not to scare away longstanding customers. Then came the cultural and fashion revolution and, almost overnight, the emporium of traditional style found itself not just at one of the best spots in London, but at the very epicentre of the world of fashion: Carnaby Street in the '60s! Liberty's was once again at the cutting edge, leading several fashion trends, such as the revivals of Art Nouveau, Orientalism and Art Deco, and the Liberty textile design studio was used extensively by such high-profile fashion names as Jean Muir, Biba and Yves Saint Laurent." "Packed full with illustrations from the Liberty archive and contemporary fashion photography, this gem of a book provides a real insight into this legendary emporium at a significant point in Liberty's history - a time of great change and renewal."--BOOK JACKET.

The story of Liberty's is the story of design. The brand has been an international byword for style and innovation since May 1875, when Arthur Lasenby Liberty opened the doors of his Regent Steet shop. The son of a draper, Arthur Liberty (1843-1917) was inspired by the conviction that if he could only raise the capital to open his own shop, he could change the whole look of fashion in dress and interior decoration. He did exactly that. With an impressive ability to spot talent and to promote good, innovative and interesting design, Liberty's shop quickly became the epicentre of London's Aesthetic movement, the place where Oscar Wilde bought Japanese silk. Succesive movements found a home at Liberty's: Arts and Crafts; Art Nouveau; Art Deco; and the Georgian revival. The work of almost all the great designers of the past century in the fields of glass, metalwork, furniture, ceramics, fashion and, above all, textiles has appeared under the Liberty label. In this book Martin Wood tells the story of Liberty's, its design and its designers: from the pewter and silverware of Archibald Knox and the Silver Studio and William DeMorgan's tiles to the fabrics of Lucienne Day, Sonia Delaunay and Bernard Nevill and the furniture of Piero Fornasetti, Vico Magistretti and even Ringo Starr.

From its founding in 1875, the firm of Liberty has been a byword for high-quality design. This account and celebration of Liberty is divided into chronological sections. It begins with the early emporium and ends with a survey of the institution's influence on post-war aesthetics and design.