Vintage Carpentry and Joinery Books

[Trevanion]

I decided to spare a little time and write up a list of my collection of old Carpentry and Joinery books as a companion to my "Vintage Wood Machining Books" thread. Obviously, the collection of Carpentry and Joinery books spans a far wider range of work as well as time periods than the Wood Machining ones do, with the majority of those books being published between 1920-1970 whereas the earliest book on Carpentry I have dates back to 1852 and arguably the knowledge in the earlier books is far superior to what's in the later books. Not quite as much of a niche as the machining books, but worth documenting I think. As with the previous thread, some titles are hyperlinked to show covers and contents.

Practical Carpentry, Joinery, and Cabinet Making by Peter Nicholson and Thomas Tredgold, 1852
The Encyclopaedia of Practical Carpentry and Joinery by Edward Lance Tarbuck, 1859
A Rudimentary Treatise on Carpentry and Joinery by Thomas Tredgold and Professor John Robison 1859
The Carpenter and Joiner, Stair-Builder and Hand-Railer by Robert Riddell, 1860
The Carpenters and Joiners Assistant by James Newlands, 1862
The New Guide to Carpentry, General Framing, and Joinery, by Robert Scott Burn, 1868
Carpentry and Joinery by S.T. Aveling, 1871
Complete Modern Carpentry and Joinery, Fred T Hodgson 1902
Door Making for Carpenters and Joiners by Anonymous
Window Making for Carpenters and Joiners by Anonymous
Elementary Staircasing by Anonymous
The Modern Carpenter and Joiner and Cabinetmaker In Eight Volumes by G. Lister Sutcliffe, 1906
Cassell's Cabinetwork and Joinery by Paul N. Hasluck 1907
Cassell's Carpentry and Joinery by Paul N. Hasluck, 1912
Modern Practical Joinery Sixth Edition by George Ellis, 1925
Carpentry and Joinery in Five Volumes by John Ednie and Contributors, 1932
Carpentry and Joinery by W.B. Douglas, 1937
Door Making with Full Instructions and Examples of Designs, By Evans Brothers Limited
Joinery and Carpentry in Six Volumes by Richard Greenhalgh and Contributors, 1945
Carpentry and Joinery by S.H. Glenister, 1946
The Practical Carpenter and Joiner by N.W. Kay, 1946
A Manual of Carpentry and Joinery by J.W. Riley, 1947
Caxton's The Modern Carpenter and Joiner in Three Volumes by Harry Newbold, 1930
Caxton's The New Carpenter and Joiner in Three Volumes by R.V. Broughton, 1950
Carpentry and Joinery by M.T. Telling, 1950
Newnes Questions and Answers on Joinery by Alfred E. Bridgwood, 1948
Newnes Questions and Answers on Carpentry by Alfred E. Bridgewood, 1951
Newnes Carpentry and Joinery in Three Volumes by Edward Molloy, 1950
Newnes Carpentry and Joinery (Advanced) by Alfred E. Bridgwood, 1952
Newnes Carpentry and Joinery Revised in Three Volumes by Alfred E. Bridgwood, 1963
Carpentry, Joinery, and Woodcutting Machinery by W. E. Kelsey, 1954
Carpentry by W.B. McKay, 1955
Joinery by W.B. McKay, 1956
Carpentry and Joinery Advanced Examples by Frank Keeling, 1963
Practical Lessons in Carpentry and Joinery by George Ellis, 1925

I do have more books than that, but some aren't really worth mentioning, aren't particularly old (and contain really rudimentary information), or are reprints rather than originals.

 

[Trevanion]

Practical Carpentry, Joinery, and Cabinet Making by Peter Nicholson and Thomas Tredgold, 1852

 

[Trevanion]

The Encyclopaedia of Practical Carpentry and Joinery by Edward Lance Tarbuck, 1859

 

[Trevanion]

A Rudimentary Treatise on Carpentry and Joinery by Thomas Tredgold and Professor John Robison 1859

 

[Trevanion]

The Carpenters and Joiners Assistant by James Newlands, 1862

 

[Trevanion]

The New Guide to Carpentry, General Framing, and Joinery, by Robert Scott Burn, 1868

 

[Trevanion]

Carpentry and Joinery by S.T. Aveling, 1871

 

[Trevanion]

Door Making, Window Making, and Elementary Staircasing By Anonymous

 

[Trevanion]

The Modern Carpenter and Joiner and Cabinetmaker In Eight Volumes by G. Lister Sutcliffe, 1906

































https://i.imgur.com/x8bTbEN.jpg

 

[Trevanion]

Cassell's Carpentry and Joinery by Paul N. Hasluck, 1912

 

[Trevanion]

Carpentry and Joinery in Five Volumes by John Ednie and Contributors, 1932

 

[Trevanion]

Carpentry and Joinery by M.T. Telling, 1950

 

[Trevanion]

Newnes Questions and Answers on Joinery by Alfred E. Bridgwood, 1948
Newnes Questions and Answers on Carpentry by Alfred E. Bridgewood, 1951

 

[Windows]

These are really great. Thanks for sharing the images.

 

[Mike Jordan]

First time I’ve seen Frank Keeling mentioned, he was one of my tech college lecturers in the early sixties. He was a great craftsman and a very likeable gentleman.

 

[Trevanion]

First time I’ve seen Frank Keeling mentioned, he was one of my tech college lecturers in the early sixties. He was a great craftsman and a very likeable gentleman.

It's clear from the book that he knew what he was talking about. My copy is actually signed by the man himself, I'll take some photos later.

 

[Mike Jordan]

My copy is unsigned, but that is balanced out by the qualifications he helped me to obtain.

 

[HOJ]

I'm fascinated with the old books with the amount of wisdom within, you don't happen to have in your "not worthy" pile a book "Woodworking" by J S Chappell, I only ask as I do work for his daughter, apparently he was a lecturer, his workshop has still got tools & chests in, but so overgrown you cant get near it, the "family" are keeping whats in it!

Edit: I think it was published in the late 50,s

 

[AndyT]

Thanks for another really useful post. It's a tremendous collection and it must have taken quite some time to show or describe so many of them. It'll be a big help to anyone wondering what to look for online - so many sellers assume the only people wanting to buy a book already know what's inside it, but you have helped us see which are the good ones. Plus we can bowl hard questions at you and you can look up the answers!

 

[AJB Temple]

Superb collection. Some of those drawings, eg from the encyclopaedia, are works of art in themselves. It does show that back then some people really knew what they were doing.

I actually have a handful of those books. Not the best ones unfortunately.

 

[Trevanion]

Carpentry and Joinery Advanced Examples by Frank Keeling, 1963

 

[Trevanion]

My copy is unsigned, but that is balanced out by the qualifications he helped me to obtain.

He must have been an excellent mentor, the book is a genuine treasure trove of information. Where would you even go to learn any of that today? I very much doubt there's any practical education establishment in the world where you could learn a fraction of what's in that book, and if there is I'd love to know about it!

My book seems to have been owned by an "R. Curry" in the past (at least I think that's what it says, I struggle with reading handwriting), sometimes the owners names are of little significance, but then there are occasions like when AndyT pointed out to me one time that the owner of my signed copy of "Carpentry and Joinery" by M.T. Telling was owned by George Mitchell who was another Carpentry and Joinery book author, when I asked the seller of the book they confirmed that and told me more about George which was interesting.



Sometimes I think I'm a good craftsman, then I look in the past and I just think I'm absolutely nothing by comparison. There's always more to learn, but so little time.

 

[Mike Jordan]

That’s an incredible coincidence, I shared a college bench with Ray Curry. We also shared a jar or two after evening classes. Haven’t seen him for more than fifty years!

 

[Trevanion]

That’s an incredible coincidence, I shared a college bench with Ray Curry. We also shared a jar or two after evening classes. Haven’t seen him for more than fifty years!

That is an amazing coincidence, it’s a small world. I believe this came from a professional book seller on eBay but I’ll have to double check, I’m guessing if that’s the case it may be that Mr. Curry is no longer with us and his family sold all his books to the seller.

 

[Trevanion]

Carpentry, Joinery, and Woodcutting Machinery by W. E. Kelsey, 1954.

Picked up this surprisingly detailed book which covers pretty much all aspects of architectural woodwork as well as a very comprehensive section on woodworking machinery, which is rare to be combined into a Carpentry and Joinery book.

 

[AJB Temple]

Some of these books you post are very interesting, such that I've bought a few. Quite often they come from India for some reason. One r two I've had to search several times and wait a few weeks. The machinery side is interesting but not my area, however, I really like some of the architectural aspects.

 

[Trevanion]

Some of these books you post are very interesting, such that I've bought a few. Quite often they come from India for some reason. One r two I've had to search several times and wait a few weeks. The machinery side is interesting but not my area, however, I really like some of the architectural aspects.

They're definitely interesting, my favourites are the ones that show completely dead trades like the really early books that dedicate a lot of pages to the construction of scaffolding. You forget that scaffolding used to be a very skilled job that included a lot of technical woodworking to prevent the thing from falling down, these days they have a variety of tubes, clamps, and a impact gun, stereotypically made up of a gang of social misfits :lol:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Have you got The New Carpenter and Joiner by R. V. Boughton?

 

[AJB Temple]

Scaffolders :lol:

We rented a house once, for a year awaiting completion of a project, from a scaffold firm owner. He had done up his parents old house when they died, extended it a lot. New everything. He did a really top job and was ever such a nice bloke. Some of the lads who worked for him were completely nuts though. Fearless and even more so after a "couple" of pints. One of them had a party trick of walking along a single pole at height, carrying another pole as if he were a tightrope walker. Concrete safety net 30 feet down. :lol:

 

[AndyT]

Some of these books you post are very interesting, such that I've bought a few. Quite often they come from India for some reason.

Is that because you have bought new, printed-on-demand copies?

I've noticed a lot of listings (presumably automatically generated) for titles available as PDFs at Archive.org, Google Books etc. Even with optional leather binding. If the starting scan is a good one, I know that p-o-d can produce a perfectly acceptable result. It's nice to have the option of easily stored ebooks or something printed on paper.

 

[Trevanion]

Have you got The New Carpenter and Joiner by R. V. Boughton?

Yep, and also the 20-years earlier version of the three-volumes, "The Modern Carpenter and Joiner" by Harry Newbould.

 

[Trevanion]

The Practical Carpenter and Joiner by N.W. Kay, 1946

Phil Pascoe kindly sent me this book for the collection, I had seen copies for sale before but I'd always overlooked it as looking a bit of a "typical hobbyist's book" of the era for no real reason, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the topics covered and just how detailed the book actually is. The illustrations are brilliant.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Thank you,

 

[wallace]

Some of them drawings are copied from wadkin catalogues

 

[AJB Temple]

Some of these books you post are very interesting, such that I've bought a few. Quite often they come from India for some reason.

Is that because you have bought new, printed-on-demand copies?

No Andy, they are second had books. I suppose they must have been used in India back in the day.

 

[Trevanion]

Post amended to add:

Practical Lessons in Carpentry and Joinery by George Ellis, 1925.

Many people will be familiar with George Ellis’ “Modern Practical Joinery” which is considered one of if not the best book on the subject of architectural woodwork, however you will not have likely seen this little rare book by Ellis which could be considered a companion volume to “Modern Practical Joinery” as it gives more detail in certain subjects not fully explored in the original. It’s full of excellent plate drawings which we all love to see.

 

[GaryR]

This is astonishing! It might take me awhile to work through all of the pictures and links, but I'm looking forward to the task.