Peter Follansbee was sitting next to me at some crazy high-end pizza restaurant I’d found for us in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and we were waiting for planemaker Matt Bickford to arrive.
I had two goals for the night. No, three. One: Eat some good pizza. Two, seal the deal with Bickford to publish his forthcoming book on moulding planes (stay very tuned). And three, try to open the door with Follansbee so he might publish something with Lost Art Press some day.
My strategy: Get Follansbee totally high on beer and animal-flesh pizza.
Then Peter notified me in a kind way that he neither drinks nor eats animals.
Well, crap.
Somehow I was able to keep his attention during the meal and make my case for the way we publish books at Lost Art Press. It’s really quite bass-ackwards compared to the rest of the publishing industry, but that’s not the point of this story.
Within a month or so, we’d made a deal to publish the long-awaited follow-up to John Alexander’s “Make a Chair from a Tree.” This new book, “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree,” had been in the works for more than 20 years. Follansbee and Alexander (now Jennie Alexander) have been corresponding and visiting and traveling together for more than two decades to piece together how furniture was built in the 17th century.
When I entered the picture last year they had a preliminary manuscript and photos that spanned the years.
So the question at hand was: Could this be a book?
The answer: Holy cow. Absolutely.
“Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” is like no other woodworking book ever published. It breaks new ground with every page. It shows you things you’ve never seen before. It will change the way you think about wood and woodworking.
Follansbee and Alexander are as unlikely a pair as you will ever find. Alexander is a retired attorney who has been working wood as an enthusiastic woodworking amateur for a lifetime. Alexander’s first book, “Make a Chair from a Tree,” is a certifiable cult classic. Long out of print for reasons too insane to go into here, the book has inspired generations of woodworkers, including people like Brian Boggs, to become woodworkers.
It is almost impossible to overstate the influence of that book.
Follansbee was Alexander’s student who sold all his power tools and became a professional hand-tool joiner at Plimoth Plantation. He was a terminally shy man who became one of the most engaging public speakers I’ve ever seen.
Their work together has produced a book that we hope will be in print forever. The first printing is in the works now and will be shipping at the end of February. It is a different kind of book for Lost Art Press. It is oversized (9” x 12”), in full color and with a heavy dust jacket.
It’s is being printed at a high-end publisher in Michigan as I type, and it is going to cost some serious coin for us to make when compared to the printers in Hong Kong.
But we figured: What the heck? We might have only one chance to do this right so we might as well go all the way.
You can read more about the book in our store by following this link. If you order the book before the release date of Feb. 27 we will pick up the shipping cost. Some people would call that “free shipping for pre-orders,” but not us. What’s a pre-order?
One last thing: I hate to sound like a tool, but you might want to order now. In the last 24 hours we have sold one-third of the first press run.
Order “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” for $43 with free domestic shipping.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. Other retailers that will be carrying this book include Lee Valley Tools, Tools for Working Wood, Lie-Nielsen Toolworks and ShopWoodworking.com – the store of F+W Media. We’ll announce more outlets as they sign on.
I can’t wait. I ordered mine earlier. Is there any chance of getting Alexander’s other book back in print at LAP?
John took the words right out of my mouth. Though I have considered that the new book might expand and improve upon the material covered in the older book.
Mark & John,
Reprinting the original is not an option. The original photos have been lost. Jennie wants to revise the text and photos, but that would be a huge undertaking at this point.
We talked about it last week. Let’s hope it takes root.
Never seen the original book, but seems like if it was printed on decent paper, with a good scanner and photoshop one might be able to put together a facsimile edition of reasonable quality for real enthusiasts in the meantime with only moderate fuss. Not at all LAP’s thing, but as long as folks knew what they were buying, they’d understand I think.
The book may be mislaid in history, but the DVD of the same might be more get-at-able
http://www.greenwoodworking.com/MACFATVideo
High end pizza in Saratoga Springs, my adopted home town? My only guess would be Harvest & Hearth over on Fish Creek. We’re known for a lot of things, but pizza isn’t one of them.
Oh. I bet you were at Max London’s. Don’t tell them you thought it a pizza place.
It was Max London’s. And it is a pizza place. With airs.
I’ve been to Harvest & Hearth as well. Not bad. Of course, I live in the Midwest and pizza can be Wonder bread with ketchup and American cheese. Microwaved.
Don’t give them ideas, they might start charging for the air(s). Great beer on tap though, and a good happy hour. Might getting a tapas place before the next show. H&H has gotten much better in the last year; finally figuring that big oven they have.
Southwest Ohio and Indiana are devoid of good pizza ( I tried one with initials LR near dayton – not too good). I should maybe include Illinois too, since I do not consider chicago style deep dish real pizza.
you can find old copies of the book on amazon, for quite a bit of money. I got lucky finding one on ebay a few months ago for about $25 – not too bad.
or did you mean “shipping for free if you pre-order”?
I’ve been interested in this book since its announcement, but based on my experience with The Anarchists Tool Chest I think I’ll wait to see if there’s going to be an updated edition. If I’d waited just a few months for a later printing of The ATC (instead of purchasing as soon as it was available) I’d have received the same excellent book plus all the corrections plus an index. For my money, that would be worth the wait. So I’ll savor the anticipation and see what happens with this title.
King – while I can’t guarantee it’s error-free, Alexander & I read every word OUT LOUD (over the phone) when we last proofed the book. it took a week of evenings…and the text is real close to just-exactly-perfect. and there is an index. and a glossary…and…and..
What about Europe? Will it be available through the usual resellers?
Bengt,
We have not yet heard back from Axminster et al. When we do, we will make note of it here.
It would be great to have easier access to Lost Art publications here in the UK. Axminster seem to be the only supplier here. Any way of levering them to supply your other titles, I’m sure from the forum chat etc. that there would be a lot of take up.
Ric
While Axminster undoubtedly have the largest customer base, I can’t help thinking Lost Art’s publications would better suit the vibe of the likes of Classic Handtools or Workshop Heaven. Whatever, I do hope someone in the UK will take it – if you have any left by the time one of them says “yes”…
Al,
Mike Hancock at Classic Handtools is one of our regular suppliers we’ve approached about carrying the book.
Chris, clearly “observant” is my middle name!
Looking forward to the book! I’d actually be interested in a post about Lost Art Press’ unique and bass-ackward way of publishing books as well if you’re so inclined to do a post on it.
bass-acward?
“Somehow I was able to keep his attention during the meal and make my case for the way we publish books at Lost Art Press. It’s really quite bass-ackwards compared to the rest of the publishing industry, but that’s not the point of this story.”
Sounds interesting and I think it would add good color to the whole idea of what makes Lost Art Press so different.
Thanks for spending the extra to have it published here in the US. We’ll pay the extra for something made by a fellow American. Just discovered Lost Art Press a couple weeks ago, and really do look forward to more. Already have picked up the “A” book in digital EPUB format. And I loved being able to pay you straightaway with no middle man.
Chris,
Already ordered the book when Peter announced it the other day. REALLY looking forward to it! Any chance that the first run will be autographed by the authors?
Shannon,
I’m afraid you will need to get their autographs the old-fashioned way with this book.
Chris
Peter’s autograph should be easy to come by, as he gets around to events pretty regularly. But Jennie’s would probably be as hard to get as J.D. Salinger’s.