Bibliography

Books

I have read or read in a lot of woodworking books. These are the ones that I recommend to period furniture makers. This list will grow as I get the info together.

Conybeare, A.J. (1991). Trees, Chests & Boxes of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. London: The Self Publishing Association. ISBN: 978-1-85421-1422

This is a hard to find book. It was self-published by a British enthusiast of carved oak boxes. He was a Forestry Consultant in the Westlands of England and looks at the items from the perspective of the wood used. He instigated a movement in English Historical Furniture circles to attempt to localize the origin of items based on the wood used and it's characteristics (e.g., annual growth rings). This 224-page book is loaded with illustrations, all B&W unfortunately. Many have at least some details: timber type, dimensions, etc. It also touches upon molding profiles, hardware, and carving elements.

Conybeare, A.J. (1993). A Discourse on Boxes of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Worchestershire: ROSCA Publications. ISBN: 0-9517678-1-X

Another hard to find book. This one is focused on smaller carved boxes, hardware and the design motifs. You see essentially the same boxes showing up in New England at the and of the 17^th Century as the craftsman from the west of England, particularly Devonshire emigrate to the colonies.

Chinnery, Victor. (2016). Oak Furniture - The British Tradition 2^nd Ed. London: Antique Collectors Club. ISBN: 978-1851497157

This book is the canonical reference for English Oak furniture from the Middle Age to the start of the 19^th Century. It's 552 pages are packed with photos. This one is not hard to find, but it's way cheaper to order it from the UK even though it's a weighty tome (8 lbs.)

Magazines

Here is a list of magazines I followed while learning woodworking. Most of them have died in the Internet age and only live on as gigabytes of PDF scans on my hard drives. My favorites:

• Fine Woodworking - When I started getting this one, it was pretty much over my head. But I liked the Gallery of user projects, the Tips and Hints and dreamed of tackling some of the serious projects. Now, I can make most of the stuff in there if I want, but there's a lot of modern art crap type stuff.
• Popular Woodworking - For years I avoided this one because it sounded like Popular Mechanics which was (and is) a total rag and thought they might be by the same company. But I was very wrong. It was a great magazine, especially during the tenure of Chris Schwarz as Editor. Sadly, things have gone steeply downhill of late and I've dropped my subscription. Though they still send my issues hoping I will renew. But, it's down to 64 pages and I expect it to sail into the sunset before too long.
• ShopNotes - Grew out of Woodsmith (see below). Focused on tools, tips and techniques. I think it was quarterly? Not sure, I don't subscribe to this anymore either. I'll pick up a copy now and again while at Lowes just for fun.
• WoodSmith - It has a journal format (no advertising) and had one big project and a couple of supporting projects per issue. Some good stuff in there, but mostly modern stuff or modern riffs on older stuff.
• Woodwork - I caught this at the end of its life. It was pretty good as well. More on the artsy side, lots of interviews with what is now called makers.
• Woodworking Magazine - A quarterly that only ran a few years. It was the brainchild of Chris Schwarz when he was the editor at Popular Woodworking. It was a journal, no advertising, and focused on hand tool woodworking. It was awesome while it lasted.