Customer Reviews

American Furniture of the 18th Century: History, Technique, and Structure

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This book has an excellent selection of photographs of fine furniture of the 18th Century. The most notable thing about the book is that the author has exhibited fairly good taste in his selection of specimens to include, and has largely ignored the more shabby pieces of the era. This is in contrast with Nutting's "Furniture Treasury", which has truly extensive selections of photographs of all furniture of the era (good, bad, or indifferent). Greene's book also contains good historical information on the furniture trade of that era, and has an excellent bibliography of furniture books written in the 18th Century (some of which remain available).

The author is a former mechanical engineer, who now hand crafts replica 18th Century furniture for a living.

Greene's book does a good job of providing a woodworker (or others interested in period pieces) with solid information on many selected pieces from the era of the title. He does a good job of selecting pieces of good taste, and gives a lot of information on various details with just the right amount of how-to. There is also a lot of historical background info for those who like to know about the history of a piece or style before they build it. The pictures and exploded drawings (showing joinery) are excellent. Though not a comprehensive encyclopedia (it's not intended to be one) it is a good read from start to finish or a good reference book. Well worth the money.

This is a simply fabulous book. Its split into two sections; a furniture history section and a "how-to" section, describing basic techniques. These two sections make the book a great, informative read. BUT what makes this a "must buy" are the appendices. Greene shows exploded views of virtually all the basic furniture types. While these pictures aren't project plans, they provide invaluable information about the guts of antique furniture. The other appendix I like is the one showing 18th century recipes for finishes. I tried a few and they work great.

American Furniture of the 18th Century: History, Technique, and Structure. Author: Jeffrey P. Greene. 320 pages. 1996.

I picked up this book at the library as part of my self-education for being a guide at Waynesborough. In my guides training I learned about individual pieces in each of the rooms and most of that was rudimentary knowledge. This basic training only whetted my appetite for understanding especially as I learned about Robert Adam and his influences.

This book was a very pleasant surprise. Though the focus is squarely on American furniture of the 1700's the book actually begins in 1607 in order to provide basic foundations and developmental context to the furniture of the 18th century. The book finishes up in the 1830's marking the end of the Federal period and hand made pieces, and also the beginning of mass produced furniture made possible by the industrial revolution and the wide dissemination of style books.

Each style era with in that time frame has a section which highlights significant features and designs. The text is amply re-enforced with photos and drawings. The reader is introduced through the text the changes in technique because of changes in available woods, style books and other influences. I was surprised to learn that these pieces were not finished with sand paper but rather chisels. Sandpaper not making its impact until the middle 1800's. The details concerning wood strength and warping of various woods was something I had not considered.

The book has an add on to the title History, Technique, and Structure and aspects are each fully covered. In some sense this book is more than just a history of various styles it is also a practical how to manual. The reader is shown how things were done using period tools and why it was done that way. The technique is enhanced by appendices which pay particular attention to veneers, stains, varnishes, and colorants. Included in these discussions are recipes from the period as well as a cautionary statement given the volatility of some of the material.

This book is a book interesting to specialists and casual readers alike.

Greene's book draws on many disciplines to explain a whole fabric of history, design, and construction. It explains how and why furniture of the period came to be as it is. The design and construction of the furniture is presented in the context of the time it was made. It illustrates and explains the construction through representative examples. It shouldn't be confused with "how-to" books of measured drawings.

Good starter book for collectors and cabinet makers. Helps provide context for the how and why for 18th century American furniture.

This is a great book at an extraordinary price. I would prefer that more of the pictures were in color but that would have increased the price of the book, maybe, beyond what I was willing to spend. If you want to learn about 18th century furniture making, this is the best there is. Greene has a writing style that is very clear and a pleasure to read. I cant say enough about this book.

I love this book. It tells how the styles of early American furniture and design evolved from England and specifically what design details were used in America. It points out what areas certain design features became characteristic of and during what dates. The second half of the book is great information on how the pieces are constructed. It helps one appreciate the remarkable design and skilled craftsmanship from that era.

I am a fan of the William & Mary style and have sought to build a tall chest for some time. Unfortunately, there are virtually no books out there about this beautiful style of furniture. I purchased "American Furniture" just to have another resource on early American furniture and was thrilled to find not only a thorough review of the W&M style but an in-depth look at the tall chest. Mr. Greene provides a history and exploded view of an example that would certainly rate "best" in Sack's "Fine Points". Of course, the whole book is great but it is the only text I have found to go this deep into W&M.

would like to know if it is possible to get a certain number of the book to use in my spring class at Penn State---it is a very good book--