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The Woodbook
For the love of An illustrated encyclopedia of wood types Culled and assembled by Romeyn Beck Hough between 1888 and 1913 in what still remains a stunning and unparalleled achievement, American Woods —originally published in 14 volumes, with actual specimens mounted on card stock—is a work of breathtaking beauty that has set the standard for the study of trees and wood.
TASCHEN’s Woodbook reproduces, in painstaking facsimile, all of the specimen pages from the original volumes; for this purpose we have obtained the use of an extremely rare original set of volumes in very good condition, with minimal damage to the wood cuts. For all trees, now arranged in alphabetical order, three different cross-section cuts of wood are represented (radial, horizontal, and tangential), demonstrating the particular characteristics of the grain and the wealth of colors and textures to be found among the many different wood types. Also included in this special edition are lithographs by Charles Sprague Sargent of the leaves and nuts of most trees, as well as texts describing the trees’ geographical origins and physical characteristics.
Interior designers, craftspeople, nature enthusiasts, and artists alike will enjoy this beautiful collection of wood samples which includes many trees that are now very rare or completely extinct.Text in English, French, and German
TASCHEN’s Woodbook reproduces, in painstaking facsimile, all of the specimen pages from the original volumes; for this purpose we have obtained the use of an extremely rare original set of volumes in very good condition, with minimal damage to the wood cuts. For all trees, now arranged in alphabetical order, three different cross-section cuts of wood are represented (radial, horizontal, and tangential), demonstrating the particular characteristics of the grain and the wealth of colors and textures to be found among the many different wood types. Also included in this special edition are lithographs by Charles Sprague Sargent of the leaves and nuts of most trees, as well as texts describing the trees’ geographical origins and physical characteristics.
Interior designers, craftspeople, nature enthusiasts, and artists alike will enjoy this beautiful collection of wood samples which includes many trees that are now very rare or completely extinct.Text in English, French, and German
864 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 10, 2016
This is an awesome book to look through if you like to look at wood. Originally published in the late 1800's as a 15 volume set (only 14 were published since he died) with actual wood pieces in it, this reprint is one fat volume filled with pictures. I forget exactly how many species are shown - about 400, I think - from North America, although there are some imports & naturalized trees, too. (It's not 'woods of the world'.) Each one is shown in beautiful color in 3 different cuts; cross, radial & transverse. From my experience with many of the woods, the colors are true & typical.
Each species gets a minimum of 2 pages, facing each other. One side has the pictures of the 3 cuts, the opposing face has a drawing of the leaves, twigs & fruit (usually) & short description. The description could be 3 times as long (which would be helpful) but it is in 3 different languages; English, German & French.
The real downside is the drawings & lettering are done in gold against a black background, which I find difficult to see or read sometimes due to glare & older eyes.
The other drawback to the book is minor to most people, but can be a problem for the enthusiast - they kept Hough's original classifications of all the woods, which means some species are not correctly named. Sometimes it is necessary to look a wood up by its common name, unless you are conversant enough to know the original classification. I'm not, but haven't had too much trouble looking anything up.
All in all, it isn't my best reference, but it is used as one. Mostly I just like to look at the pretty pictures occasionally, though! You can see all the page plates here:
http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/specialcollec...
A quick overview with some pictures are here:
http://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/03/12/h...
Each species gets a minimum of 2 pages, facing each other. One side has the pictures of the 3 cuts, the opposing face has a drawing of the leaves, twigs & fruit (usually) & short description. The description could be 3 times as long (which would be helpful) but it is in 3 different languages; English, German & French.
The real downside is the drawings & lettering are done in gold against a black background, which I find difficult to see or read sometimes due to glare & older eyes.
The other drawback to the book is minor to most people, but can be a problem for the enthusiast - they kept Hough's original classifications of all the woods, which means some species are not correctly named. Sometimes it is necessary to look a wood up by its common name, unless you are conversant enough to know the original classification. I'm not, but haven't had too much trouble looking anything up.
All in all, it isn't my best reference, but it is used as one. Mostly I just like to look at the pretty pictures occasionally, though! You can see all the page plates here:
http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/specialcollec...
A quick overview with some pictures are here:
http://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/03/12/h...
July 8, 2016
Romeyn Beck Hough's original The American Woods, of which this book claims to be a new edition, was particularly ambitious in that it contained, besides the descriptions of various trees and uses for their wood in North America, over a thousand physical samples of wood sliced from hundreds of different trees. The Woodbook understandably goes with pictures of those samples instead, combining the considerable disadvantages of both aged unprotected wood (significant discolouration) and photographs (low resolution, meaning you can't actually examine many of the most distinctive features of the wood).
That, a few very notable omissions that were reasonably fair in 1888 but not so much in 2002, and enumerations of usages that are now a century out of date make The Woodbook effectively useless for the botanists and woodworkers Hough went to so much effort to be of help to, and render it only about as interesting as any other book Taschen has put out.
That, a few very notable omissions that were reasonably fair in 1888 but not so much in 2002, and enumerations of usages that are now a century out of date make The Woodbook effectively useless for the botanists and woodworkers Hough went to so much effort to be of help to, and render it only about as interesting as any other book Taschen has put out.
January 5, 2008
An amazing book. Sort of the Grey's Anatomy (the book, not TV show) of American wood.
January 11, 2009
an excellent resource for anyone who is interested in woodworking
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews