Lost Art Press

You can now place a pre-publication order for our historical reprint of “The Joiner & Cabinet-Maker,” which will ship out in late September.

The price is just $12 as a thank-you to everyone who has supported us during the last 12 years.

The book is a copy of the original text from the early 19th century, likely 1839. It tells the fictional story of young Thomas and his apprenticeship in a rural British joinery shop. Plus there’s the villain, Sam, and the love interest, Sally. What’s most interesting about the book is the descriptions of historical practice. The anonymous author was clearly someone who had grown up in a period workshop.

This historical reprint is being printed on high-bulk paper to feel like the original text. The signatures are sewn for durability, like the original. And the book is covered in a heavy textured paper with gold debossing. (The original had a paper cover with a thin cloth cover, but we couldn’t find a printer that could do this economically.)

It’s a small book (4-1/8” x 6-3/8”) and a quick read – just 120 pages. And produced and printed entirely in the USA.

After the reprint arrives in our warehouse in September, we will also offer it bundled with our 2009 version of “The Joiner & Cabinet Maker,” which features essays from Joel Moskowitz and additional construction information from me. For now, we’re taking pre-publication orders for people who want the reprint only. This will keep the shipping situation much simpler.

As always, we don’t ship internationally. But we will offer this book to our international retailers. It is up to them as to whether they will stock it.

— Christopher Schwarz

One of our earliest and favorite books is “The Joiner & Cabinet-Maker,” a fictional early 19th-century account of young Thomas coming of age in a British furniture shop. The book was intended to introduce young people to what the woodworking trade was like (albeit a bit on the sweet side of reality).

When we published the book in 2009 it included sections from Joel Moskowitz about woodworking during that time period to give you some context for the book. Plus chapters from me detailing the three projects shown in the original text. You can still order this book (it’s in its third printing) and we have no plans to discontinue it.

We think it’s an important book that was written by an anonymous joiner or cabinetmaker. Many of the details in the book help explain period practice. Or they help enrich your understanding of the history of your hand tools.

To mark the 10th anniversary of the book, we decided to publish a separate reprint of the original text in its original compact size. And to do it at a special “thank you” price. The book is currently at the printer and will arrive here sometime in September. Here are the details:

To create the reprint, we started with one of the early and (likely) original editions in my personal library. These books are hard to come by, especially the early ones. After 200 years, the binding of this copy was a bit tattered, though the pages were holding together with thread.

So the book was easy to disassemble to do a high-quality scan (the book will be reassembled by a conservator friend).

The original book is small by modern standards – 4-1/8” wide and 6-3/8” tall. And it was printed modestly so that it could be purchased by normal people, not just the elite.

We sought to emulate the look and feel of the original. The binding will be sewn – like the original – in the hopes that our version will last 200 years. The paper is a #55 high-bulk paper that has a nice texture, like old paper (not super-coarse like a terry-cloth towel as some people imagine). The cover is a heavy and textured paper that is made in the USA with wind power (from Mohawk, one of our favorite mills).

And the cover will be debossed with a gold diestamp.

But Why?
Since we first published “The Joiner & Cabinet Maker,” customers have asked if they could buy the original text alone – without the modern chapters. Some readers had no interest in what Joel and I had to say (fair). Or they couldn’t afford the $36 (also fair). But we couldn’t afford to do this sort of project when we were a young company. Now we can.

“The Joiner & Cabinet-Maker: Original Text” will cost about $12 when purchased by itself. And we will offer it at a special price when bundled with the modern book (likely $44 for the bundle).

You’ll be able to tuck this little book into your tool chest for whenever you need a period rush. Or you can give it to a young Thomas who might want to experience the period like an unfiltered Camel.

I don’t have many more details today, I’m afraid. As soon as we have a printing date, we’ll open up pre-publication orders.

Note: This edition will be limited to a short run. This is a special edition at a special price. Once it’s gone it will be gone forever.

— Christopher Schwarz