Lost Art Press

Unsolicited Praise for ‘Make a Joint Stool from a Tree’

Posted on by Lost Art Press

We never request reviews from woodworkers, magazines or fellow authors. And we don’t sling around free copies of our books in the hopes of hooking a review.

So when we get a review, it’s from someone who had to seek out the book and read it. We respect those reviews, whether they are positive or from Lumberjocks.com.

This week, we have received some nice notes from readers about “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” by Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee. Here are a couple of note:

Good gracious what a wonderful book. I loved it! It has found a good home on my bookshelf between American Seating Furniture: 1630-1730 and American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Volume 1, Early Colonial Period. The discussions are great and the photographs are priceless. The overall quality of the publication is spectacular.   This is a must read for anyone who studies early American furniture.  Now I cannot wait till your book on “Make a Chest from a Tree.”

Best wishes,
Erik Gronning
Sotheby’s New York
Vice President
American Furniture Department

My book arrived this morning. I’ve already commented on the content, of course, but I was pretty floored by the printing. The matte color is gorgeous – perfect for the material.  Understated.  Perfect.  

I’m going to assume you’ll get a good few complaints from people who think glossy coated papers = quality, but this is one of the nicest printed books I’ve ever seen. It’s quite close to what I would have imagined 18th c. color photography printing would have looked like. Had there been color printing, photography, or printing beyond type and litho blocks, that is.

You managed to really knock my socks off with the print on this.  It’s hard to impress so much with anything these days, much less get people to notice (and consider) the ink, paper, and techniques of printing. Quite a feat.

Raney Nelson
Daed Toolworks

We like the book, too! And we are eagerly awaiting Peter’s follow-up book on building and carving 17th-century chests, which is already in the works.

— Christopher Schwarz

18 thoughts on “Unsolicited Praise for ‘Make a Joint Stool from a Tree’”

  2. “we are eagerly awaiting Peter’s follow-up book on building and carving 17th-century chests, which is already in the works.”

    Best news I have heard in a really long time. I had really hoped that he was working this book.

  3. Oh, I almost forgot the note from our favorite indexer.

    “My new Alexander/Follansbee book arrived yesterday and so did some shoes I ordered. Which did I open first ??? Well, of course it was the shoes. After about an hour of trying them on, walking around and checking them in the mirror, I thought, “didn’t I get another package today?” (I’m a blonde). The book looks great and so do my new heels!!! Congratulations on the book. It is easy to see the amount of thought that went into writing and designing it. It will be interesting to see what kind of reviews it gets.”

    2. Now I would very much like to see a picture of her in her new shoes. She should hold the book as well.

  4. I just got mine the other day as well and I have to agree, it’s one of the most impressive books I’ve seen in a long time. I’ve only had a chance to read through about half of it so far but WOW. The care and attention that went into every part of this book are almost overwhelming to think about. I own several Lost Art publications and I think this is my favorite so far.

    I have to admit I was doubtful about the matte paper when you first mentioned it, I’m so accustomed to seeing color photographs printed on glossy that the idea seemed almost alien, but now that I have it in my hands I agree that it was the best choice. Speaking of the photography, it’s very well done and is giving me a much better sense of what period green woodworking was all about. I’m going to have to go back and read “The Artisan of Ipswich” again now that I can better visualize the whole process of building with fresh wood. Thanks again!

    -Josh

  5. Hmmmm. All these great books, and I’ve enjoyed reading each one, makes me wonder how much I should budget each year for “must have” books from LAP and others.
    Now that I think about it, maybe one of the next books should be about building bookcases.
    Barrister styles might be best so we can build as needed and stack them to the ceiling.
    Just a thought.

  7. Can I pre-order Peter’s next book?

    I’m still waiting for my copy of the stool book (that sounds wrong somehow) to arrive, but based on everything else I have seen from LAP I have no doubt it will be grand.

    1. Joe,

      Your book has spent the last three days in beautiful Des Moines, Iowa. I don’t know why. Let’s hope it finds its way West.

      1. And I’m sure it’s having a lovely time there too!

        But seriously, the carved chest book will be great. And the moldings in practice as well.

        I hope you guys are having fun and making a comfortable living, because we’re all enjoying the hell out of it from this side.

      2. He’s not the only one! Mine is listed as “Missent” in good ol’ Des Moines en route to the Pacific Northwest.
        I’d dab my tears with my flannel shirt, but it is covered in fir pitch and salmon entrails…

  8. The yak caravan finally meandered through Illinois and dropped my copy off yesterday. I, too, plan on posting my impressions.

  9. I hope we Canadians will be able to get our hands on this book soon (Lee Valley?). I understand LAP not having the resources to ship it here, but ShopWoodworking.com won’t either. 🙁
    And how do Canadians add “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” to their Kindle “shelf”? I love the book, and want to be able to tote it around more easily.

    Rainer

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