Description

Culled and assembled by Romeyn Beck Hough between 1888 - 1913 American Woods was originally published in 14 volumes, with actual specimens mounted on card stock. It was a work that set the standard for the study of trees and wood. Taschen's Woodbook reproduces all of the specimen pages from the original volumes. Very few sets of the original remain intact and it is from the set in Kew Garden's possession that the present work has been lovingly reproduced.

For all trees, now arranged in alphabetical order, three cross section cuts of wood are represented (radial, transverse and tangential), demonstrating the particular charateristics of the grain and the wealth of colours and textures to be found among the the many types of wood. Each plate is accompanied by a trilingual text with description of species, habitat, wood properties and uses. Also included are lithographs by Charles Sprague Sargent of the leaves and nuts of most trees, as well as descriptions of geographical origins and physical characteristics.

The book is most attractively designed, and includes an illustrated protective slipcase.

Sample pages