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Rob Millard makes his living building reproduction furniture for clientele around the country. He has written a number of articles on furniture design, techniques and construction, most recently for Popular Woodworking. Although he builds pieces from most periods, his attention and focus are Federal designs.
Books have always been an important part of my life. No matter what I have been interested in, most of my understanding of the subject has come from books. This has been especially true with woodworking, which explains the 100 plus volumes on my shelf.
I can remember when I decided to make reproduction furniture, the influence some of those books had and still have on me. Picking a few favorites is difficult. Some are on the favorite list out of nostalgia because they remind me of the days when everything was new (to me) and exciting; titles in this category are the New Fine Points of Furniture, Early American by Albert Sack and American Furniture of the 18th Century by Jeffery P. Greene. The Sack book gave me an understanding of regional differences and exposed me to furniture types I had never seen before. The Greene book provided an understanding of the “how” of period furniture construction, which I spent hours absorbing. The 10-volume set, American Antiques in the Israel Sack Collection, is an expansion on the theme of New Fine Points of Furniture, Early American book and is certainly among my favorites.
From there my list of favorites goes to The Treasures of State, which showcased some of the finest furniture of the period that interests me most. This book also sparked my interest in collection catalogs, which typically feature the best of the best along with excellent photos and construction details. In the catalog category, I’d have to list The Furniture Masterworks of John and Thomas Seymour by Robert D. Mussey Jr. as my favorite, but I also find American Furniture from the Federal Period by Charles F. Montgomery, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (despite a total lack of Federal furniture) and the Work of Many Hands: Card Tables in Federal America, to be books I refer to constantly.
From the perspective of general woodworking books, I gained considerable knowledge from The Encyclopedia of Furniture Making, by Ernest Joyce, Woodwork Joints and Practical Veneering, both by Charles H. Hayward; if I have a question about a woodworking procedure, it can almost certainly be found in one of these three books.
I could go on, because each book has something to recommend it, and I haven’t even mentioned the many helpful magazine articles I have in my library.
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