New in the Store: ‘The Workbench Book’ by Scott Landis –
We are pleased to announce that we are bringing “The Workbench Book” by Scott Landis back into print with a beautiful hardcover edition that is produced entirely in the United States with 100-percent post-consumer recycled paper.
The book is at our printing plant in Tennessee and is scheduled to ship out in January 2021. If you place an order before then, you will receive a free pdf of the book at checkout.
“The Workbench Book” was first published in 1987 by The Taunton Press and remains the most complete book on the most important tool in the woodworker’s shop. Using hundreds of photos, full-color illustrations and historical images, Landis traces the history of the workbench from its beginnings to the development of the portable Workmate.
Along the way, Landis works with craftsmen such as Frank Klausz and Ian Kirby to demonstrate how to build some of the most important historical bench forms, including a Shaker workbench, a European cabinetmaker’s bench and an English bench common in 20th century workshops.
Landis’ book was my personal introduction to the world of workbenches. And I wrote a new foreword for this edition that tells the story.
About this Edition
Recent editions of “The Workbench Book” were printed overseas and in softcover. A few years ago, the book went out of print, and the book’s rights reverted back to Landis. After a conversation with Robin Lee at Lee Valley Tools, Landis and I negotiated a new publishing agreement to bring the book back into print in a nice hardbound edition on recycled paper with a dust jacket – all produced in the United States. (And, of course, Landis will receive royalties like all Lost Art Press authors.)
The book was a technical challenge for us and the printer. Like many books that go out of print, the original electronic files were lost. What we did have was a file that had been reconstructed from the four film separations during an earlier print job.
I’ll spare you the nerdy stuff, but we had to jump through a lot of hoops to get this book looking good on press. To create the new foreword, we also had to do some 1980s archaeology to recreate the electronic fonts for a seamless package.
We’re glad to do it. “The Workbench Book” is one of the books that deserves to be in print for future generations of woodworkers. And in a nice edition that will survive decades of hard use.
“The Workbench Book” is 248 pages and printed on 80# coated paper that is 100-percent post-consumer recycled stock. The book’s signatures are sewn and reinforced with a fiber tape for durability. The casebound book has heavy cloth-covered boards and is wrapped by a 100# dustjacket that is coated with a matte laminate to increase its durability.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. We are now at work to bring the companion “The Workshop Book” by Scott Landis back in print as well.
