It’s Labor Day in the United States and Labour Day or Fête du Travail in Canada. A celebration of the creative work accomplished by hand seems appropriate for today. The hands making things and hands made by hand were made by: No. 1 & 8: The right and left hands of “David” by Michelangelo Buonarroti,…
Read moreLast November, the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., received a printing press similar to the type used to print Shakespeare’s First Folios. The printing press was to be part of the Folger’s recent expansion of its exhibit space. Although Joseph Moxon’s “Mechanick Exercises: Or, the Doctrine of Handy-works: Applied to the Art of Printing”…
Read moreScholars, translators, transcribers and writers have always needed to have multiple books and other resources within easy reach. Illustrated manuscripts give us a good look at how medieval scribes stored and arranged their often large and hefty books. In the image above, Saint Jerome, identified by the halo, red galero and the lion with a…
Read moreThe Catalan variation of the of the post-and-rung chair has been traced back to the late 19th century and is still made today. This native of Catalonia speaks to me; it whispers, “sit back and relax.” As with its straight-backed relatives, these chairs were made with local woods and reed-woven seats. The chair back is inclined…
Read moreGood tidings and joy! Today begins the Twelve Days of Tooltide and a new song for all woodworkers. This song will lift you from post-holiday doldrums and carry you, all bright and shining, into the first week of the new year. As with the making of dovetails, dowels for a stick chair or deciding which…
Read more