‘Slöjd in Wood’ Printer Proofs

I’ve been approving printer proofs for more than two decades, yet I find myself inordinately excited (and not a little bit anxious) about the proofs for Jögge Sundqvist’s “Slöjd in Wood,” which arrived this morning. I suspect it’s because this is the first book I’ve ever handled on which there wasn’t a production department between me and the press – so if there are mistakes, they are mine alone. And because if I let John and Chris down in any way, on this, the first Lost Art Press project I’ve shepherded from beginning to end, the guilt would crush me.

But they look good – thanks to Kara Gebhart Uhl’s copy edit and Meghan’s design skills, and, of course, to Jögge’s words, Jostein Skeidsvoll’s photographs and Annika Nordin’s illustrations.

This project started with light edit as I flowed the translated text into the templates. Then a heavier edit and a few turns to Google translate. It turns out that English takes more words than Swedish to convey the same meaning, plus Jögge added some text to make the tools and tree species more easily accessible to North American readers, so Meghan had to shift things around in the layout to make sure the words and images all ended up on the correct pages.

But the most significant change in this first English edition is the gathering of all the knife grips into one chapter, instead of explaining them only alongside the projects to which they relate (though we left them there as well). So it serves not only as a slöjd projects book (there are 17-20…depending on how one counts), but as an easy-to-navigate primer on the tools and techniques for any type of green woodworking project that can be accomplished with an axe, a few knives and perhaps a drawknife (it’s optional).

But the most attractive thing to me about “Slöjd in Wood” is not the lovely photography, fun projects or the easy-to-follow instruction – it’s Jögge’s philosophy of slöjd, which comes through clearly on every page: Make; don’t buy. Use; don’t waste. Learning is a lifelong process. “Traditional slöjd is a survival kit for the future.”

It is in every way a lovely book.

— Megan Fitzpatrick

Place a pre-publication order for Jögge Sundqvist’s “Slöjd in Wood” in the store. The price is $37, which includes domestic shipping. The book is scheduled to ship in early April 2018. We don’t know which retailers will opt to carry the book (we hope all of them will), but we will update you here when we have more information. Note that on this book, a translation, we do not have electronic rights (so we cannot offer a PDF version).