" At the present time it is impossible to set down with any degree of accuracy the history of textile printing at Mulhouse, once a small Republic, allied to Switzerland until 1798 and in the Upper Alsace region.

Mulhouse, though completely enclosed within the bounds of the French State until 1798 was the cradle and centre of textile printing in Upper Alsace and the manufactories which sprang up were to expand considerably during the course of the 18th century in the Vosges valleys."