For the most part, facsimile editions of historical books don’t do much for me. The printing is muddy. The paper is a measly notch above groundwood (aka newsprint). And the binding is weak. The cover, however, always looks nice so as to trick you into buying the poor manufacturing job within.
If you’ve ever bought a facsimile of Thomas Chippendale’s famous book, then you know what I’m talking about. Some companies do a good job with facsimiles; most do not.
So when we decided to reprint the “Stanley Catalogue No. 34,” we wanted to reproduce the look and feel of the original and make some manufacturing improvements, such as a sewn binding, to ensure our version could outlast floods, dogs and babies.
Our first shipment of “Stanley Catalogue No. 34” arrived smack dab in the middle of Woodworking in America, and I haven’t had much time to look at it. (I had one in the car that I was examining at stoplights; that’s how nuts it has been here.)
So I’m happy to report that this book has exceeded every expectation I had for it. The prepress people managed to make plates that mimicked the original’s crisp drawings and text. The black are black. The screens are real screens – not some moire mess.
Our warehouse is getting an assembly line together during the next week to ship out all the pre-publication orders. So if you placed an order for one, it will be on its way soon.
“Stanley Catalogue No. 34” is $25, which includes shipping in the United States and Canada. Many of our retailers have decided to carry the book, including Lee Valley Tools, Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, Henry Eckert in Australia, Tools for Working Wood in Brooklyn and Classic Hand Tools in the UK. Check out our international ordering page for links.
— Christopher Schwarz
Not yet up on Classic Hand Tools’ web site. I’ll check back next week . . .
fore the last week every time I go to the PO I keep thing today is the day. but so far it as not been the day. (I forgot it was a pre-publication order) … I am so looking foreword to it
I like Dover… its the home of EJ Tangerman and his trilogy on whittling and woodcarving.
I looked at a copy at your table at the Woodworking in America show. I agree that it is very crisp, well done.
Speaking of The Director, I wish someone would produce a facsimile of it as nice as this example of the Stanley catalogue.
I received mine (the day prior to the shipping notice arriving in email..). Love it. Inspired to look through a lot of old tools stored in boxes in the loft of the shop I found a number that are in the catalog, nothin special, mostly measuring and marking tools but fun nonetheless.
Just arrived today…
Lost Art Press continues to delight!
This catalog reprint is OUTSTANDING! It’s worth every drop of sweat and effort you put into making it so clean, crisp and clear. It’s unlike any I’ve ever seen. THANK YOU for not just banging out another newsprint facsimile.
Did you receive the no 26 catalog reprint from mwtca this week? At first I thought it was printed by you guys. What do you think of it compared to yours?
MWTCA did a nice job, as always (I’m a member, obviously).
The catalogs are from different eras as far as the illustrations and text explanations go. All of the cuts in ours looked different than the cuts in theirs. So I thought it was a nice complement to ours.