My latest book, “American Peasant,” is now shipping from our Covington warehouse. The price is $37 plus shipping. All copies purchased from us are autographed.
If you can’t afford the book, or aren’t sure it’s for you, the pdf of the complete book is free. You can download it by clicking this link. This is not a trap. You don’t have to register or give up your email. Just click this, and the pdf will download to your device. No strings attached.
The pdf is free now and for always. Tell your friends.
A quick note for those who bought merchandise to support our renovation of the Anthe Warehouse, your book is on the way. Check the bottom of this entry for details.
What’s the Book About?
“American Peasant” is an introduction to a style of peasant furniture and decoration that is almost unheard of in the Americas. Built primarily with tongues, grooves and pegs, the furniture is frequently engraved with geometric symbols that beautify the piece and protect its owner.
With this book, you will learn to build 10 simple pieces using common tools and whatever lumber is on hand. And you’ll learn to engrave the pieces using nothing more than a cheap craft knife and a vinyl flooring cutter. (We were so thrilled with this tool that we now make a commercial version of it.)
In addition to furniture making, “American Peasant” delves into other areas of the craft that will make you a more independent woodworker. Learn to make your own commercial-grade glue using only three ingredients (food-grade gelatin, salt and water), all of which you can find at the grocery store. The glue is strong, reversible and non-toxic (it’s edible, though we don’t recommend eating it).
You can make your own finish using beeswax, linseed oil and citrus solvent. This non-toxic finish is easy to apply and to repair. Plus, it looks better with age and use.
Finally, you’ll learn the language of the engravings, which come from Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and the U.K. These geometric engravings can protect a loved one from sickness, guard your valuables and grant good fortune to others (there are no negative engravings or spells in this book).
It’s the most beautiful book I have written, designed and printed. The cover is our first two-color diestamp, and the plant did a beautiful job of stamping it extra-deep so the cloth has a fantastic texture (“…with the look and feel of hand-tooled leather.”).I hope you enjoy it.
Anthe Supporters – Read This!
If you were one of the 445 people who purchased a special class, a spell panel, lump hammer or book that supported our effort to fix up our Covington warehouse, this section is for you.
Last month I sent out a couple emails to all of you. If you didn’t get one, check your junk folder. I have signed all your books, personalized them to you and they are shipping now (I labeled a bunch of them this morning). If you think or know you are entitled to a book but you haven’t received an email, don’t leave a comment here. Instead, reach out to help@lostartpress.com. They will help sort it out.
Customer service stuff aside, thank you – all of you. Your purchases raised about $120,000 that was beyond helpful.
And Hats!
We also have a batch of new hats in the store. These are navy blue with our dividers embroidered in white. These are unstructured, soft and have a metal clasp to adjust them. We got a special deal on them and were able to lower the price by $5.
Word to the wise: If you think you might want a Lie-Nielsen No. 48 Tongue & Groove plane, now would be the time to make your order. I have a feeling they’re going to be sold out once people start reading this book.
FYI: For some reason when you look on the main site and select all books the American Peasant appears as the last book in the list and not the first. Normally the latest book, like Set and File, appears as the first book in the list.
Everyone have a great INDIPENDENCE DAY!!! Stay cool.
I already got the pdf from the subscription substack (thanks!), and I would gladly order the physical book if I could. Let us know if you start shipping to other countries, or if the distributors carry it.
I have two physical books from LAP, they’re great quality. Robert Wearing’s book ended up in a puddle of dog sick and it’s still fine! 😉
For some reason the books were not sorting newest to oldest. They are now. Thanks!
Why the strikethough text on the hats link? Looks like it’s still in stock on my end.
I do not know what WordPress’s software does that. It just started a few weeks ago.
Hi Chris,
I recommend allowing people to combine orders to save on shipping (and offset carbon) on the LAP store. Two days ago, I ordered a couple of books knowing that The American Peasant was going to become available soon. After placing my order, I immediately wrote to the customer service to hold my order until the new book was available so it could all be shipped in the same box. It doesn’t look like anyone looked at that email yet, because as of yesterday, there was a UPS tracking number for my original order. Thanks for considering.
We are happy to do that when it is feasible. Sometimes it is not. During the week, most orders are filled within the same day they are ordered. And over the weekend, requests get backed up for our customer service person.
Hi,
Would it be possible to get a signed copy of the book ? Normally I would wait patiently for the book to be available in EU but it would really make my day to have one signed. I don’t mind paying the shipping from US, only if it’s possible and not too much of a hustle 🙂
Daniel
Hi Daniel… Send me an email and we will take care of you. It’s the least I can do for all the help you gave me.
I am in Germany for the next couple weeks, but we can get it out when I return.
Oh, that’s fantastic ! Thanks a lot, dropped an e-mail on the help address.