Lost Art Press

Details on ‘The Anarchist’s Design Book’

Posted on by Lost Art Press

ADB_Cover_mock_up“The Anarchist’s Design Book” will be available in the Lost Art Press store on Jan. 15 for pre-publication ordering. The book is expected to ship from our warehouse on the week of Feb. 28, 2016. (Note: All dates are subject to change because of the weather and factory schedules.)

The book will be $47, which will include domestic shipping. I am personally signing the first 1,000 books sold through our store. If you order before March 31, you also will receive the pdf version of the book for an immediate download.

We don’t know which of our retail locations will carry the book or when it will be available in their stores – that is their business, of course. So we ask your patience on that question.

“The Anarchist’s Design Book” is the result of four years of difficult work researching early furniture forms, building them, redesigning them and then building them again (and again).

The book will be 456 pages and printed in an 8” x 10” format, making it larger and longer than “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” from 2011. The book will have sewn signatures to make the book extra durable, and a hardcover with the same cloth as used on “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.”

As with all of our products, this book will be produced and printed entirely in the United States.

One of the interesting wrinkles with “The Anarchist’s Design Book” is how we are making the “book block,” which is the sewn pages minus the cover. Books from the 17th century were traditionally painted on their edges (red or black were common colors) to protect the paper from dust, water and other environmental factors that harm paper.

We’ve decided to do the same thing with “The Anarchist’s Design Book,” which was not an easy thing to do. We’ve had to switch printing plants and alter our printing process to make it happen. We’ve also decided to personally absorb this cost – this book really should be about $55.

Why? Because it’s cool and we want to do it.

We thank you all for your patience with this title and hope you find it worth the wait. We don’t have any other details on the book’s availability outside of our store or our country. As we have those details, we’ll post them here.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. My next book is going to be 64 pages and be about a snail who finds love in an unlikely location.

45 thoughts on “Details on ‘The Anarchist’s Design Book’”

    1. Stefan,

      Thanks for asking. We didn’t think it was fair for the customers (and retailers) to pay for these manufacturing changes. They are an experiment and something I have been researching and been wanting to try for many years on our books. Because I am the author of this book, I’m the only one who will be hurt if it doesn’t work out.

  6. Makes me giddy that LAP is going to the trouble of painting the edges of the paper. Just perfect.

  7. I know I’m reading too much into this but, will the first 1000 copies purchased on the “online store” be signed? Or the first 1000 sold at the brick & mortar store? Or both?

  12. I imagine that the snail is named Sebastian, and he’s from Seychelles. I’m ready to pre-order. Juneteenth 42′ can’t get here soon enough.

    1. I couldn’t wait, so pawing through Chris’ trash, I found the opening line to the book: Sebastian Snalle Sells used sea shells in the Seychelles. It was typed over five times in large print on the page, so I don’t have any intel on the rest of the text.

    1. It’s because you get the PDF of this book with the preorder. 😄

      Or it could have something to do with marking the wood.

      1. Check out page 217 of the “Campaign Furniture” book for an example of its use.

      2. That marriage mark is straight from Roubo and is the symbol of a joined construction.

        It never even occurred to me that it looks like the Acrobat logo until the above comment. I now see some similarity on the lower end of the mark. But we’re not trying to confuse anyone into thinking this book is a piece of software that will allow you to open digital documents.

        If I’d created that marriage mark myself, I might consider using something different. But the 18th-century cabinetmaker’s triangle is central to the theme of the book, so I’m going to stick with it.

    1. Only if you can get a note from your doctor.

      Believe it or not, we’ve actually had readers inquire about the ink we use to stamp the covers. They were concerned we were using something that – if it flaked off – they would be allergic to.

      We recommended the pdf version for them.

  15. I can’t hardly wait for this book to come out. I went through the The Anarchist Tool Chest and loved it. This book will be a great compliment to the ideals you set forth in Toolchest. I’m sure this will be another homerun.

  22. How long does it take to sign a thousand copies? I’m getting Carpal Tunnel Syndrome just thinking about it. As a side note, is the unlikely place for the snail to find love by any chance a salt mine? Because that would be unlikely. Really.

    1. It takes about four hours to sign 1,000 books. But then John and I go to our favorite deli by our warehouse and get a beer and a fantastic sandwich. So it’s worth it.

      1. Not to discourage you from signing the books, because I think it’s cool, but I’m pretty sure the deli will serve you regardless. Unless it’s a deli targeting a very small demography….

      2. You know, I really enjoy living in midcoast Maine, but one of the downsides is the lack of restaurant variety. Your city seems to have an enormous amount of excellent eating choices.

  23. Not being able to get a shot at a signed copy is the worst part of living up here in Canada.

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