Library

farleighLuckily I have a number of out of print, antiquarian books on the subject of wood engraving and other related topics that I would like to make available as interactive flipping books.

My first offering is John Farleigh’s 1954 book, Engraving on Wood. This interactive page turning effect works on every device.

Many have found this old publication useful in their pursuit of understanding how wood engravings are made.

I owe a debt of gratitude to the estate of Mr. Farleigh for allowing me to publish this.


This is a nice 16 page pamphlet published by Dryad Handicrafts back in the fifties I think. Written by Douglas Bliss it serves as a good introductory overview of the wood-engraving process. There are some lovely illustrations.

You can thumb through the publication by clicking here:  Wood-Engraving


The Student's Book of Wood-Engraving

Published in 1938 this very informative handbook titled The Student’s Book of Wood-Engraving provides valuable insight into the means and methods of master engraver Iain Macnab.

I haven’t made it into a flip-book just yet but am working on it. In the meantime I will be publishing each chapter as regular text, starting here.

Thomas Bewick


I’m delighted to offer this wonderful  little book for viewing. It’s full of excellent examples of Bewick’s engravings along with text by John Rayner.

Thomas Bewick is of course the father of modern wood engraving having revived it in the 1700’s.

14 Comments

  • John Steins

    Thanks for dropping by Imants, Yes I miss him every day but luckily his vast collection of work isn’t lost and will be celebrated.

  • Lynn Kenneth Pecknold

    http://issuu.com/lynnkennethpecknold/docs/beachguardianssuite

    John, I am having a Wordpress Website Template being designed currently and am impressed with your flipping book plugin. I first used one at the ISSUU URL above for a Suite of Prints related to Printmaking.
    Best wishes, Lynn.

    Would love to hear how you are doing. I will pass on your website to my daughters. My eldest daughter teaches at Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

  • John Steins

    Thanks Karen,
    I think it’s a pretty neat way of representing a physical book online. I hope to do others this way as well.

  • karen

    Wow!
    I am a middle school teacher. I can’t wait to show the kids this. I have forwarded your work to our art teacher. Love it!

  • John Steins

    Thanks for dropping by Jeff. Wood engraving is certainly a fascinating occupation and I’m glad you have joined the fray. Unfortunately I haven’t had much time of late to do any new work but hope to this winter.

    If there’s anything I can help with please let me know.

    John

  • Jeffrey Knopf

    Hi John

    What a find your site is, I entered into the world of engraving about a year ago and I am still finding my way with it and amassing knowledge where I can. The flip book is excellent and has given me a few more tips on how to engrave (I know I will be coming back for more info)

    Thanks again Jeff

  • Rob Ingram

    Hey John:
    Not that I am into engraving but what a wonderful way to share out of print resources. Good job. How did you handle the copyright issue?
    Rob

  • Frank Haili

    Hi, it’s very great to share your books about woddengravings ! The form provides a good feel of reading. The informations are good. Many thanks for sharing !

  • John Steins

    Thanks Katie, You’re quite right about all those sounds associated with ‘old’ technology. I loved the sound of movie projectors and slide projectors. Those noises are like audible punctuation marks.

    Had lots of fun with the book and am planning to do others as well.

  • Katie

    Ha! How interesting. I think it s a great way to share the book and some of the information it holds. The sound provides an ‘book’ aesthetic that made me smile.

    Just last week I signed an ‘old’ slide projector out of the library to do a presentation. The librarian noted how they are not often used much these days. I explained that for me there is no getting away from the “woook shek-shek” (haha) sound that is part of the observation piece. I digress.

    The book looks like a book, sounds like a book, and now I’ll return to read some of the knowledge contained. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
    Thanks!

  • John Steins

    Hi Penny,

    Thanks for taking time to stop by and for your thumbs up on the flip book. It’s a bit labour intensive to set up but it does a neat job of approximating the feel of turning pages back and forth.

  • Penny

    I like the flip book – use the format often!

    Lovely work as always, too bad I’m too poor to buy anything … sigh.

So great if you could take a minute and leave your thoughts on this.