A Manual of Wood Carving – Charles G. Leland – 1902 | Illustrated Woodworking

A Manual of Wood Carving by Charles G. Leland is an early instructional guide on how to carve wood for furniture and decorative pieces. Leland gathers practical woodworking techniques and offers them in an easy-to-understand manual designed for novices and professionals alike.

He describes step-by-step instruction for tool care, gouge work, laying grooves, Cavo Relievo patterns with guidance on depth and spacing, notes on cutting flat panels, and even sections on how to carve animals and leaves. Other topics include dying and staining wood and ivory, wood-turning knobs and bars and other furniture fittings, as well as how and when to use a saw for carving.

This 1902 is utterly filled with illustrations throughout including six full-page plates modeling the described techniques.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Manual of Wood Carving
• Author(s): Charles G. Leland
• Contributor(s): John J. Holtzapffel (Reviser)
• Publisher: New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons
• Edition: Revised edition, 1902
• Format: (8vo), single volume
• Binding: Decorative cloth boards imitating carved wood
• Size:  8.75 x 7 in (22.2 x 17.8 cm)
• Collation: 162 pp
• Illustrations: In-text figures throughout and six full-page plates
• Contents Include:
  • Wood carving tools and their care
  • Cutting grooves and gouge techniques
  • Cavo Relievo patterns and panel carving
  • Carving leaves and animal forms
  • Sunk carving, staining, and coloring processes
  • Dying ivory, creating knobs, bars, and polished ornaments
  • How and when to use the saw

Condition:

Very Good. Decorative cloth shows light rubbing at corners with mild wear at extremities; spine moderately faded yet readable. Binding secure. Text block clean with no markings. Plates and in-text figures crisp with strong impressions.

Why Collect This?

• Hallmark Arts and Crafts era woodworking manual
• Distinctive publisher’s cloth imitating carved wood
• Mix of process notes, patterns, and plates suitable for bench use

Item Number: # 29508