The Encyclopedia of Furniture: Third Edition - Completely Revised Hardcover – December 13, 1965

Everything you want to know for information on antique items is in this book. Great information.

Great book excellent seller. Thank you

I purchased a used copy of this book via Amazon. Coming from the ninth printing of third edition, this book came off the press in 1975. Now, 46 years later, there are some signs of wear and tear—but no more than reasonable, and the seller was excellent in all categories.Joseph Aronson authored the first edition of this encyclopedia in 1938. In the foreword to it, he wrote, “It has long seemed to me that the art and industry of furniture sorely needed a convenient encyclopedia.” He sought to meet the reference-work needs of furniture designers, makers, collectors, architects, and the like, recognizing that to keep the encyclopedia compact enough to be a single tome, some details such would have to be omitted. The reception of the first and second editions were numerous, strong, and enthusiastic. The inside flap of my copy says that previous to its existence, more than 150,000 copies of the book were sold. In his foreword to the third edition, Aronson acknowledges that many revisions have been made, a substantial number of which came from critiques and suggestions regarding the first two editions.The first thing to note about the book is that it is, to modern eyes, remarkably Eurocentric. Given the era in which it was written, the locale, and the predominance of English, French, and other European styles, techniques, etc., in the influencing of American furniture making, sales, and so forth, it is not surprising. But don’t look here for much on Asian furniture, for instance, regardless of the merits thereof. (There are a few examples, but not sufficient to claim anything like thorough coverage of the subject.)The format of the book is one of the somewhat quaintly old-fashioned “encyclopedia” sort, much akin to a dictionary. Entries are alphabetical, and each is defined, described and/or explained in as concise a manner as the author thought acceptable. Many entries are augmented will illustration; some are simple b/w drawings/engravings, others photographs (again, all b/w), and there are more than 2000 of them, virtually all of which are valuable in a reference of this sort.As a budding furniture maker, I’m already finding this book very helpful in clarifying what is meant by some terms of art, or acquiring a photographic example of something to cement the idea of, say, just what a c-scroll is and looks like. Or what features might be expected of German Rococo furniture. It will continue to be a useful reference pretty much until I give up the activity, I’m sure.For those who wish ready reference to a broad range of phrases, names, design details, etc., of the furniture produced over the last several centuries, with an eye cast mostly toward European influence, this remains, as best I can tell, the best single resource. Recommended for students of design history, furniture design, repair, and construction, artists, and more.

Aronson's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FURNITURE is a must have if you do not know every detail of every style in every period of furniture development. It defines terms and shows sketches and photos of many of them. It has good summaries of each term. Organized by terms and presented in alphabetical order, if you don't find the information under one term, it will send you to the term where you can find information instead. Used in my History of Furniture class, I highly recommend it paired with Crochet's DESIGNER'S GUIDE TO FURNITURE STYLES, 2nd Edition. Together, you will have everything you need to know about the history of furniture.

the cover is different on my book, but its the same book. this is a very detailed book that has just thousands of wonderful black and white pictures of many, many types of furniture! and even a few sketches. it even has a section with pictures of different "cuts" of wood making different grains. a must have book if you are even slightly interested in the style and design of furniture!

It’s not that nice bad quality photos all through the book. I’m sure they can get updated photos for this book and maybe make it in color some of the photos are so bad I can’t even tell what I’m looking at it’s just a black shape no detail or reference of what I’m looking at and very little detail on the photos

I cannot stress enough how fabulous this book is - it really is Must-Have Resource book for ALL Design Libraries. Having studied the applied arts/ craft arts & design this book is a great reference guide and something I use to check on original & replica styles from furniture suppliers, especially for historical aspects to help further inform clients on their choices/ placement & ultimately purchases. If you love furniture, design or are in both - then this is a great addition to your resources.