If you are in the Cincinnati area and would like to get your copy of “To Make as Perfectly as Possible” signed by two of the principals who worked on the book, be sure to stop by the Lost Art Press booth at noon today.
Don Williams and Phillip Lafargue will be there at Woodworking in America to sign your copy and discuss the book. I am not sure how long they will stick around the booth so get there promptly to avoid disappointment.
— Christopher Schwarz
After thousands of hours of work, we are finally ready to release “To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Marquetry” on Thursday.
The last few pieces of puzzle fell into place today with the deluxe edition arriving at John Hoffman’s doorstep in suburban Indianapolis. Exactly 600 books arrived on six pallets, with only three books to a box (typically we get 16 to 40 books to a box). This is a huge book in every sense.
The entire book far exceeds any expectations I had for the manufacturing, the design and the entire editorial package. It is quite possibly the nicest modern book I have ever held in my hands.
And now you have a chance to judge that for yourself at Woodworking in America later this week when we release the huge deluxe edition, the oversized and very nice standard edition, plus a couple other special items starting on Thursday.
Those of you who have been reading my writing since 1996 know that I am not a fan of the hard sell. I don’t like giving it or taking it. So keep that in mind when I say this: We have less than 100 of these deluxe copies left to sell. Once they are gone, they are gone forever. Once you see one, I know you will want one.
If you want to remedy this, you can still buy them in our store here. Yes, they are expensive. I make no apologies for the price. They are worth far more than we are asking, in my opinion.
Other Fun Stuff
To celebrate the release of this book – the first English translation of A.-J. Roubo’s masterwork – we have a couple other items for Woodworking in America.
The first 300 people to purchase or pick up a pre-ordered book (or shirt, hat or DVD) at Woodworking in America, will receive a Lost Art Press iron-on badge for their shop apron or Italian undies. These badges will be available only at Woodworking in America. And it will be one to a customer. Apologies.
These 2” circular badges feature the Lost Art Press dividers in white thread on a blue background. I’m going to sew one to my leather jacket.
We’ll also be releasing our latest T-shirt design in support of “To Make as Perfectly as Possible.” The shirt features a detail from one of the plates from the marquetry book of two Frenchmen busy at some marquetry or inlay. The rear of the shirt features the slogan: “Getting Inlaid Since 1769.” (That was the year Roubo’s first volume was released.)
The shirts are available in sizes medium, large, XL and XXL. The shirts are 100 percent cotton and made by American Apparel in Los Angeles. The screen printing was done in Indiana (wait until you see the detail we squeezed out of this one).
The shirts are $20 ($22 for XXL). If we have any left after WIA, we will sell them online in the Lost Art Press store.
And this is the part where you call your boss and pretend to be sick.
It is not too late to join us.
— Christopher Schwarz
Late next week some time, the back-and-forth flow of edited manuscripts for “To Make As Perfectly As Possible: Roubo on Furniture Making,” or “R2” for short in our internal correspondence, will begin between me and Michele Pagan, eventually making their way to my external readers for contextual critiques, and finally to Philippe Lafargue for the ultimate smoothing of the 18th-century French-into-English.
The details of the working process are a little too “inside baseball” to recount here, but I trust the headaches we had with traffic-control on the first volume will be reduced for the second through a much more streamlined process (my directory holds almost a thousand documents for R1). It better be. “To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Furniture Making” is almost exactly twice as large as “Roubo On Marquetry.” I can almost see Chris and John reflexively grabbing to protect the corporate wallet. The latter volume took us six-and-a-half years, we are hoping for the former to be complete and on Chris’ desk by this coming spring.
We’re going in. Wish us good fortune!
P.S. – Here’s a teaser. For the recent French Oak Roubo Project, Philippe and I worked intensely on the contents of Plate 11 so that I could print and present a polished manuscript on 85# parchment paper – the “owner’s manual” as Jameel Abraham called it – to each participant. I hope it is not unseemly that I believe the result was totally awesome. I hope Chris will bring his copy to WIA for you to see for yourself. My copy is somewhere in the multitude of boxes in The Barn.
Don Williams, the primary force of nature behind “To Make as Perfectly as Possible,” is a man of few vices but many vises.
He doesn’t drink, smoke, curse or even drink coffee. But the man will travel to the ends of the earth to examine pianomakers’ vises. This peculiar, beautiful and woefully undocumented form is featured prominently on H.O. Studley’s workbench. And so Don has spent weeks researching, restoring and examining original pianomaker’s vises.
He has been documenting his findings on his blog. Have you bookmarked it yet? You should.
Here are some recent entries on these cool vises.
Searching for Studley-esque Vises in New England 2013
New England Vise Tour Day #1
New England Vise Tour – Days 2 and 3
Vise Tour Day #4 — Meeting the Studley Tool Cabinet’s Previous Owner
New England Vise Tour 2013 — Days 5,6, and 7
Keep track of Don’s blog and the cool things he does at his web site: donsbarn.com.
— Christopher Schwarz
If you have ordered either the deluxe or standard edition of “To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Marquetry,” here is a quick update on the books and your order.
Both the standard and deluxe editions will be released first at Woodworking in America. We didn’t plan it this way, but that is when both books are going to be in-house and available. If you are coming to Woodworking in America, you can pick up your copy there in person.
If you are not attending Woodworking in America, your order will ship immediately after Woodworking in America. We’ll be shipping the deluxe versions first. Then the standard editions.
If you ordered the deluxe edition, we know this has been a long wait for you (it has been a long wait for us, as well). To thank the people who bought the deluxe edition, they will all receive a coupon that will allow them to download the electronic version of the book at no additional charge. This will be a high-resolution pdf that will work on computers or ebook readers.
None of the books – deluxe or standard – that ship out will be autographed. If having a book autographed is important to you, we encourage you to pursue this on your own.
Publishing these editions has been the most complex, expensive and time-consuming venture I have ever been involved in. As someone who has read these books at least six times over in the last year, I can say that it will be worth the wait.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. There is still time to order the standard edition with free domestic shipping. Orders before Oct. 10 receive free shipping. To place an order, visit our store here.