Table Of ContentAMERICAN
WOODWORKING TOOLS
.---------------------.
Paul B.Kebabian
DudleyWitney
31color, 142 halftones,27 line illustrations
America was largely built by the hand tools of the
woodworker. Collectors today are responding in
creasingly to these old tools- to their fascination as
industrial mechanisms and to their beauty as
sculpturalobjects- at the same time recognizing the
importanceoftheir preservation ascluesto American
economicand socialhistory.
In American Woodworking Tools, collector Paul
Kebabian hasjoined forces with noted photographer
Dudley Witney to produce a tool book unique in its
combination of richly informative, authoritative text
and stunningillustration.
In his text, Paul Kebabian traces the development
ofindividual toolsfrom their origins in Europe to the
early homemade American types and to the sophisti
cated versions produced byspecialists; hissources in
clude estate inventories of colonial craftsmen, the
patents of the increasingly ingenious devices of the
nineteenth century, and the catalogs of tool-making
firms. Chapters are devoted to the woodworking
trades - such as shipbuilding, coopering, cabinet
making - that made use of specialized tools. This
valuable material creates an unusual informal study
of aspects of American industrial history from the
firstsettlements to about 1900.
DudleyWitneybringsaspeciallove and knowledge
ofthe subject to the photographs that illuminate the
text. Illustrations also include contemporary engrav
ings and line drawings made for this book, for these
can sometimes reveal technical details more clearly
than a photograph. But it is Dudley Witney's splen
did,glowing photographs,reproduced on agenerous
scale, that willlingerin themind'seye.
New York GraphicSociety
34 BeaconStreet
Boston 02106
Paul B. Kebabian, who has assembled a notable col
lection of American tools, is past president of the
leading organization ofAmerican tool collectors, the
Early American Industries Association. He brings to
his tool studies the precision of his profession, for
after graduation from Yale University he studied
library science at Columbia University; he is now Di
rectorofLibrariesat the University ofVermont, Bur
lington, where he and his wife, Justine, make their
home. Notsurprisingly,his listofpublications reflects
his dual interests, ranging from "Bibliographical
Quiddling" to"Aiken'sPatentSaw Set."
DudleyWitney,born in England and trained there as
a tool designer before he turned to illustration and
photography, is also a toolcollector. While searching
through old barns for tools, he became interested in
the architecture of these vanishing structures, an in
terest that resulted in the publication (with Eric
Arthur) of The Bam in 1972. Other notable photo
graphic publications include The Lighthouse in 1975
and, most recently(with Brendan Gill),SummerPlaces.
Alsofrom NewYorkGraphicSociety:
FarmToolsthroughtheAges, by Michael Partridge.
260 band wills. 240 pp. 8Yz x II Paper $8.95
The Mill, by William Fox, Bill Brooks, and Janice
Tyrwhitt.
99 color, 178 bandwills. 224 pp. lOx 12 $29.50
The Bam: A Vanishing Landmark in North America, by
EricArthurand DudleyWitney.
135 color, 278 band wills. 256 pp. II x 12
$27.50
TheLighthouse, byDudleyWitney.
121color,202 bandwills. 256 pp. 9%x 12Y2
$29.95
Jacketdesign byJanis Capone
Jacket illustrations.Front: Plow plane bySanduskyTool Company
orOhio.Back: Craftsman-made laminated and inlaid stock litting
metalpartsoraStanleyplane. 1870-1885.
Printed inU.S.A.
AMERICAN
WOODWORKING TOOLS
Croze-howel. Combination tool, with croze on one side and howel opposite. The arc
of the working surfaces can be changed by adjustment of two lignum vitae wheels.
Length, 12Ys inches.
.--------------------------------.
AMERICAN
WOODWORKING TOOLS
.--------------------------------.
TEXT BY
PAUI~ B. I{:EBABIAN
PI-IOTOGHAPHS BY
DUDLEY WITNEY
NEW YORK GRAPHIC SOCIETY BOST ON
.- - - - - ---------------------------.
Text Copyright© 1978 byPaul B. Kebabian
Photographs Copyright© 1978 by Dudley Witney
All rights reserved. No partofthis book may bere
produced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical
means including information storage and retrieval systems
without permission in writingfrom thepublisher,except
by areviewerwho mayquotebrief passages in a review.
Firstedition
LIBHAHV OF CONGHESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Kebabian,Paul B
American woodworkingtools.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Woodworking tools. I.Witney,Dudley. II.Title.
TT186.K4 621.9'08 i8-7066
ISBN0-8212-0731-8
Linedrawings are by Cathy Baker, Hinesburg,Vermont
Designed byJanis Capone
New York GraphicSociety Books arepublished by
Little, Brown and Company
Publishedsimultaneously in Canada by Little, Brown
and Company (Canada) Limited
Printedin the United States of America
FOR JUSTINE AND PAMELA
