10. We will have both versions of the A.-J. Roubo translation “To Make as Perfectly as Possible” on hand to purchase. And (on Saturday) we will have a special book signing opportunity with the entire book team. This event will probably never happen again.
Continued tomorrow.
Sign up for Woodworking in America, Oct. 18-20. Really, what else do you have to do that weekend? I thought so.
— Christopher Schwarz
The standard edition of “To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Marquetry” is now available for pre-publication ordering. If you order before Oct. 10, 2013, when the book ships, you will receive free domestic shipping.
The book is $43 and is available in our store here.
We had announced earlier that the book would be $40, but because of some last-minute changes to the printing specifications, we had to raise the price to $43. Apologies.
About the Book
“To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Marquetry” is the first English-language translation of the most important woodworking book of the 18th century.
A team of translators, writers, woodworkers, editors and artists worked more than six years to bring this first volume of A.-J. Roubo’s work to an English audience. (Future volumes of Roubo’s other works on woodworking are forthcoming.)
While the title of this work implies that it is about marquetry alone, that is not the case. “To Make as Perfectly as Possible” covers a wide range of topics of interest to woodworkers who are interested in hand-tool woodworking or history.
In addition to veneer and marquetry, this volume contains sections on grinding, sharpening, staining, finishing, wood selection, a German workbench, clock-case construction, engraving and casting brasses.
But most of all, “To Make as Perfectly as Possible” provides a window into the woodworking world of the 18th century, a world that is both strangely familiar and foreign.
Roubo laments the decline of the craft in the 18th century. He decries the secrecy many masters employed to protect craft knowledge. He bemoans the cheapening of both goods and the taste of customers.
And he speaks to the reader as a woodworker who is talking to a fellow woodworker. Unlike many chroniclers of his time, Roubo was a journeyman joiner (later a master) who interviewed his fellow tradesmen to produce this stunning work. He engraved many of the plates himself. And he produced this work after many years of study.
The Lost Art Press edition of “To Make as Perfectly as Possible” is printed to high standards rarely seen in the market today. Printed and bound in the United States, the 264-page book is printed on acid-free #60-pound paper in black and white. The pages are Smythe sewn so the book will be durable. And the cover is made from heavy 120-point boards covered in cotton cloth. The book is 8-1/2” x 12”.
In addition to the translated text, essays on the text from author Donald C. Williams and all of the beautiful plates, “To Make as Perfectly as Possible” includes an introduction by W. Patrick Edwards of the American School of French Marquetry, an appendix on the life of Roubo and a complete index.
The book’s table of contents is below and here. You also can download a sample section of the book here on sawing veneer with this link: Roubo sample pages.
“To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Marquetry” is available direct from Lost Art Press and from our select retailers.
To Make as Perfectly as Possible
The Different Woods Appropriate for Cabinetry
Section I.
Description of the Woods of the Indies, and Their Qualities, Relative to Cabinetmaking
Alphabetic Table of the Foreign Woods
Why Not Dalbergisterie?
Descriptions of French Wood Appropriate for Cabinetry
Colors in general, and the Woods from the Indies and from France with Regards to their different colors and their nuances
The different Compositions of Dyes appropriate for dyeing Woods, and how to use them
Section II.
On the sawing of Wood appropriate for Cabinetmaking
On Sawing Veneer
Description of Cabinetmakers’ Tools
Section III.
The Frames [Cases] appropriate to receive Veneerwork, and how to prepare them and construct them
Of Simple Parquetry, or the Composing of it in General
The Parqueteur’s Tool Kit
Section I.
The diverse sorts of Compositions in general: some detail and the Arrangement of wood veneer
Various sorts of Compositions, straight as well as circular
Make Banding With Roubo’s Template Blocks
The manner of cutting and adjusting the pieces so they are straight, and the proper Tools
Cutting and Assembling Cubic Hexagons
The manner of cutting curved pieces, and the tools that are appropriate
The 18th-century Shoulder Knife
Section II.
The manner of gluing and veneering Marquetry
Why Does Hammer Veneering Work? And How Can it be Made Better? 117
Section III.
The way to finish Veneer Work, and some different types of polish
Finishing Marquetry
Ornate Cabinetry, Called Mosaic Or Painted Wood, An Overview
Section I.
Elementary principles of Perspective, which knowledge is absolutely necessary for Cabinetmakers
Section II.
On the manner of cutting out, shading and inlaying Ornaments of wood
The way to engrave and finish wooden Ornaments
Section III.
How to represent Flowers, Fruits, Pastures and Figures in wood
Floral Marquetry
On the Third Type of (Veneered) Cabinetry in General
Section I.
Description of the different materials that one uses in the construction of the third type of veneered Cabinetry
On the Nature of Tortoiseshell
Mastic and ‘Mastic’
Section II.
Works for which one uses the third type of Cabinetmaking
Section III.
How to work the different materials that are used in the construction of Marquetry, like Shell, Ivory, Horn, etc.
Section IV.
The manner of constructing Inlay and finishing it
I. General Idea of the different types of Mosaic
Metal Casting
II. Ornaments in Bronze in general
III. The way to solder the Metals which one uses for different works of Cabinetry
IV. Description and practice of a Varnish appropriate to varnish and gild copper and other metals
Conclusion to the Art of Woodworking
Appendix: André-Jacob Roubo
Index
— Christopher Schwarz
In between cutting dovetails and teaching 10 students to cut dovetails for a tool chest, Megan Fitzpatrick and I are making the final changes to the proof of the trade edition of “To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Marquetry.”
The book goes to the printer on Friday so it will be ready for Woodworking in America in October.
Thanks to some competitive pricing from our printer, we are happy to announce that the trade edition will cost $40 plus shipping instead of $60.
The book will be printed in the United States using all the same details that are typical to our books – cloth-covered boards, Smythe-sewn spine and so forth. The book will measure 8-1/2” x 11” and be 264 pages long.
We will have an introductory offer – free domestic shipping – on the book that will be announced here in the next week or so when we put the book up in the Lost Art Press store.
International customers will be able to buy the book through our network of international retailers.
I would like to write more, but we still have more than 100 pages to check.
— Christopher Schwarz
This is going to read like a letter that recalls your car.
Lost Art Press is committed to bringing the first-ever English translation of A.-J. Roubo’s masterpiece to market in March 2013. No, make that July. August? Well crap.
OK, forget the form letter.
“To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Marquetry” has been at the printer since July 1. But because of the complex nature of the project and the proofing process, we are scheduled to go on press this week. Then our pages head to the bindery on Sept. 3. And they will be shipped to us no later than Oct. 10.
That’s the bad news.
But there is lots of good news to report here. Here is some:
1. The trade edition will be released in time for Woodworking in America, Oct. 18-20. So we will have both editions of the marquetry book – the deluxe and the trade edition – at Woodworking in America in Covington, Ky.
2. As part of Woodworking in America, we will be holding a book-release party on Thursday, Oct. 17. Details to come, but if you ordered the deluxe edition you will be the first to be invited. If our luck holds, we will have as many people involved in the project – translators, editors, designer, etc. – as possible on hand to sign your copy of the book.
3. I reviewed the deluxe edition of the Roubo translation on Thursday and I can say this: It is awesome. Huge. Designed to a “T” by Wesley Tanner. And inspiring.
So thank you for your patience. I know this has been a long journey from the time we started this project more than six years ago. I know that once the book is released, I will allow all the stress and angst from the printing process to fade. Until then, beer please.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. We still have some deluxe editions to sell from our one-and-only press run. Details here.
A quick status update on “To Make as Perfectly as Possible: Roubo on Marquetry.”
• The deluxe edition is supposed to go on press at the end of August. We were hoping for an earlier press date, but we didn’t get our wish. Then the book has to go to the bindery. And get its slipcase. We are now shooting for an early September delivery.
• Thanks to an error in our store, we mistakenly thought we were sold out of the deluxe edition. We have not quite sold out. We have about 50 copies allocated to the store. After those sell out, we are going to wait until we have all of the copies in hand. We will fulfill all the outstanding orders. Then we will count how many are left and sell those.
• If you have paid your $100 deposit but haven’t paid the balance, please contact John Hoffman at john@lostartpress.com to complete your order. We cannot ship your book until we have the full amount.
• Wesley Tanner is now laying out the trade edition of the book. We hope to have this in time for Woodworking in America.
• We are trying to plan a book-release party for Woodworking in America. If you bought a book, you will be invited.
— Christopher Schwarz