Roberts Illustrated Millwork Catalog

When E. L. Roberts & Co. — a Chicago-based wholesale manufacturer of architectural woodwork — issued a catalog of its millwork products in 1903, the firm boasted that the publication included "more novel and useful features … than any sash and door catalogue yet published," and that it was a book designed to satisfy "critical buyers who demand stylish and tasteful goods." This volume, reproduced directly from a rare turn-of-the-century Roberts catalog, displays a vast assortment of finely crafted products — from window blinds, brackets, china closets, church fittings, doors, frames, gable finishes, linen closets, moldings, and office furniture to parquet floors, sashes, shingles, side boards, side lights, store fronts, wainscoting, and windows. Nearly 300 sharply defined line drawings and photographs also provide detailed close-ups of exquisitely carved rosettes, head blocks, grilles, arches, and other decorative accents. Included in these illustrations are superb views of late-Victorian interiors finished with ornately carved balusters and newel posts, paneled walls, exquisite filigree, lovely stained glass windows, and magnificent fireplace mantels. Here's a practical source of plans and ideas for architects, students of architectural history, carpentry enthusiasts, preservationists, restorationists, and anyone interested in the interior design and furnishings of a bygone era.

Featured items include French doors, windows and sashes, blinds, colonnades, window seats, and other interior and exterior elements. Captions. 326 black-and-white illustrations.

Practical tips on how to adapt easily to right-handed diagrams; tools and instructional materials; and how to hand sew, hand stitch, and deal with hooks and eyes, snaps, and hand-rolled hems; darn; and sew on feathers, sequins, and beads. The final section introduces basic tailoring hand stitches such as the buttonhole, chainstitch, and French tack. Nearly 100 illustrations.

Old-House Journal is the original magazine devoted to restoring and preserving old houses. For more than 35 years, our mission has been to help old-house owners repair, restore, update, and decorate buildings of every age and architectural style. Each issue explores hands-on restoration techniques, practical architectural guidelines, historical overviews, and homeowner stories--all in a trusted, authoritative voice.

* Features hundreds of detailed illustrations from actual period millwork catalogs. * Demonstrates how to properly specify millwork. * Include a glossary of key terms.

Rare catalog features abundant illustrations of late-19th-century taste in diamonds, watches, and all manner of rings, lockets, and charms, scarf and stick pins, earrings, bracelets, and scores of other baubles. Over 2,200 engravings.

Selected from an extremely rare 19th-century catalog, this visual celebration of handcrafted French ironwork designs is filled with finely rendered black-and-white images of balustrades, grand balconies, brackets, and much more. An invaluable source of motifs, inspiration, and accurate details for architectural historians, craftspeople, designers, and metalsmiths.