Our special Tenth Anniversary Issue is in production and will be heading to the printer before we know it. The deadline to reserve a copy of this pre-order edition is April 27. After that, this title will no longer be available for purchase. Over the past couple weeks, we’ve been announcing the entire Table of Contents. The first four article descriptions can be read here, and the next five can be read here. The final five articles can be read about below.
“Fitted Up: Recreating the Parson’s Wardrobe” Joshua A. Klein
In the inaugural issue of Mortise & Tenon Magazine, Joshua A. Klein set out to replicate a card table from a rural New England furniture maker named Jonathan Fisher. This was the beginning of Klein’s research into Fisher’s work, which eventually culminated in his book about the man titled Hands Employed Aright. In his initial article, Klein took a sympathetic approach to replicating the table, paying close attention to exact construction techniques, tool marks, and even individual dovetail angles. In this Tenth Anniversary Issue of Mortise & Tenon, Klein returns to Fisher’s work, this time replicating his wardrobe. Those who have read Klein’s book know that this wardrobe features some of Fisher’s most sophisticated grain painting. And yet the backboards look like a beaver installed them. This piece of furniture epitomized the sophistication coupled with practicality that Fisher exemplified so well. In this article, Klein describes how he reproduced the entire wardrobe and in the process, reflects on Fisher’s craftsmanship mentality. There’s nothing quite like walking in another man’s shoes to see the world from his perspective.
“Signs of Life” Anthology
Anyone who reads broadly on the value of human work in the world has noticed certain refrains from the voices who speak most poignantly. There are many ways to explain the need for people to work with their hands, just as there are countless frameworks for diagnosing the perils of modern life. At the same time however, there is so much overlap among these thinkers, that it would be easy to think they are all coming from the same source. With this harmony in mind, M&T editors Joshua A. Klein and Michael Updegraff have composed a craft anthology article for Issue X that brings together some of the most astute and compelling voices. Philosophers, historians, anthropologist, and poets each offer a perspective we so desperately need to hear today. Featuring insights from thinkers such as Nicholas Carr, Louis Mumford, Michael Sacasas, and many more, this anthology of quotations drives home the point that truly human creativity is an essentially communal activity. It is rooted in a desire to give of oneself to others, rather than simply to receive (payment, accolades, etc) from them. In a cultural moment that leaves us divided up and progressively disembodied, technology is no solution. Instead, learning to make things with and for other people is a most rich and beautiful way to be countercultural. In this anthology, these authors speak in one voice. And they speak straight to the soul.
“Ever a Tradesman” Kenneth Schwarz
What does it mean to “move up” in the workplace? Is true success finally getting out of the grungy shop, to move up into the managerial class? How does a lifelong craftsman negotiate the opportunity of such “moving up” in an institution? In this article, Colonial Williamsburg blacksmith Kenneth Schwarz writes of this struggle in his own journey. For decades, Schwarz worked on the historic trade front lines, demonstrating pre-industrial blacksmithing techniques for visitors. He’s made countless fasteners, hardware, and just about everything else that can be seen on the Williamsburg campus. After decades serving faithfully in the trenches, Schwarz was offered the opportunity to “advance” into an important managerial position: Director of Historic Trades. He accepted the role with reluctance, but didn’t last long. The office work “lacked physical action” and left him mentally and physically drained after the each day of the office. Schwarz turned in his desk work and went happily back to the anvil. Anyone who has worked in the trades and was later “promoted” into management knows the struggle Schwarz writes about. If you’ve not yet experienced this temptation, you would do well to read the cautions of a man who loves his work and wouldn’t trade it for the world.
“The Transition of Power” Michael Updegraff
Every creative effort humans have put their hands and their minds to, from growing food to building furniture to raising up cities, requires energy input. At first, basic human energy accomplished everything: If something heavy needed to be moved or built, the solution was, simply, more humans. The Neolithic revolution brought about the use of animal power, and for the first time, our power source was externalized – found outside our own muscles. Across subsequent ages and through the application of technology, natural forces of wind, water, and heat have been harnessed to build civilization as we know it. In M&T’s Tenth Anniversary Issue, join author Michael Updegraff in an epic exploration of the history of power. Through a mastery of ever-more-powerful prime movers, humankind has created opportunities for societal growth and technological marvels on previously unimaginable scales. But is the externalization of our creative tasks a one-way street – is an automated future inevitable? Or does history offer important lessons on when we should pump the brakes on “progress” for the sake of human flourishing?
“Time Well Spent” George Sawyer
Vermont chairmaker George Sawyer has big shoes to fill. His father, David Sawyer, was one of the pioneers of the resurgence of green woodworking and Windsor chairmaking in America. A humble, quiet man, he nevertheless influenced a whole generation of woodworkers and became an authority on the craft. Always willing to offer advice and encouragement, he never asked for anything in return from those who sought him out. And in M&T’s upcoming Tenth Anniversary Issue, George Sawyer reflects on carrying that legacy. Tradition is not a static thing – it grows and changes with each generation. Sawyer shares about his desire to honor his father’s work and designs while at the same time building the family business around his own aspirations and goals, all with a desire to honor the ancient chairmaking trade as a whole. “My thinking doesn’t stop at ‘How did my dad do this?’” he writes, “but often gets pulled back into ‘How was this done 200 years ago?’” Through this compelling link to tradition, both near and remote, Sawyer looks ahead to the future of building beautiful objects by hand.
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The last day that the Tenth Anniversary Issue will be available to purchase is April 27. After that, we will close orders, and the printer will make enough to fulfill our pre-orders. Because this is an unusual way to release a book, we’ve been fielding lots of questions, so here are the key things you need to know:
- This is available only by pre-order, and the ordering window will close after April 27.
- The book is scheduled to ship in June.
- We will not do another print run.
So, if you’re a fan of M&T, you will not want to miss out on this one-time-opportunity edition. As you can already see from the article descriptions, the Tenth Anniversary Issue is an extra-special volume that will be referenced for years to come. Pre-order your copy now, before it’s too late.