Welsh Stick Chairs, John Brown

"Welsh Stick Chairs" by John Brown is a small but mighty book. At 104 pages it can be read in an afternoon, but it has changed the lives of thousands of woodworkers all over the globe.

John Brown (1933–2008) was a chairmaker in Wales who specialised in Welsh stick chairs, a vernacular form of furniture that was typically made by the end users. Compared to Windsor chairs, Welsh stick chairs are masculine, lively and sometimes even a bit aggressive. They are built with simple hand tools and, when made properly, are designed to last for hundreds of years.

John Brown made hundreds of these chairs, and in 1990 he published a small book explaining how he made them, plus some history of chairmaking in Wales and a critique of the Windsor chairs they were sometimes confused with. The book electrified woodworkers everywhere, even those who weren't chairmakers, who were fascinated by his approach to the craft, his disdain for measured drawings and his honest and forthright writing style.

The book had been out of print for some time, but thanks to Matty Sears, one of John Brown's sons, and the rest of the heirs, Lost Art Press has published a beautiful and well-made edition. The entire book was reset in the original font from first-edition copies, the photos and drawings were rescanned and cleaned up, and the paper was chosen to match the original. The signatures are also sewn together, so the book will last for lifetimes.

This edition includes John Brown's original introduction, the additional introduction he wrote for the third edition and an updated essay on John Brown by Nick Gibbs.

Facts:
Author John Brown
104 pages
Softcover with heavy card stock cover like the original
Size 7-1/4" × 9-5/8"
Language English