The result of their labor is the new Lost Art Press book "Make a Joint Stool from a Tree: An Introduction to 17th-century Joinery." This book starts in the woodlot, wedging open a piece of green oak, and it ends in the shop with mixing your own paint using pigment and linseed oil. It's an almost-breathtaking journey because it covers aspects of the craft that most modern woodworkers would never consider. And yet Alexander and Follansbee cover every detail of construction with such clarity that even beginning woodworkers will have the confidence to build a joint stool, an iconic piece of furniture from the 17th century.

Johann Hering (?1580-1647) compiled his album of elaborate calligraphic letterforms, innovative type arrangements and traditional alphabets over a ten year period in the 1620s and 1630s in the Kulmbach region of Bavaria. (Or it was produced sometime during this time frame: it's not clear) I tend to believe - and I may well be wrong - that Hering's album is more along the lines of a practice manuscript for himself rather than being a true copybook or modelbook* for educational purposes. The majority of the writing is in German (with occasional Latin) and many of the written pages are obviously copied from the bible, particularly the Book of Psalms. [*Modelbooks: see here & here] There is next to nothing by way of commentary online about either Hering's life or the background to his amazing album. He is simply described as a 'writing master'. A number of published books are attributed to Hering - most or all on the type/font arts - and one of his handwriting manuals was apparently republished in German in 1982 (although I didn't actually find much of a trail online).

Early 17th Century. Of nearly square form, fitting into a slightly larger shaped and carved base and conforming upright frame with a rounded toprail with ox-nose bail handle to enable transportation, and with a pair of foliate-form spandrels where each upright arm meets the base, with two framed rectangular doors opening to the interior fitted with single shelf and a row of two drawers at the bottom, the front rectangular lockplate with square openings to receive the metal members attached to the interior shelf

It's really not too difficult to report on John Bate, the author of this most intriguing 1634 book, 'The Mysteryes of Nature and Art', as next to nothing is known about him. At least he admits in the title and preface of his influential tome that he collected experiments and recipes from a variety of sources, so we might judge well of his character for being so truthful in an age when intellectual property theft was rampant in publishing.

His technology-come-artisan-come-folk alchemy manual combined perceptive observations with fanciful whimsy in just the right balance. The promise of practical hydraulics and the secret ingredients of fireworks and medical remedies - copiously illustrated with amazing woodcuts - struck a chord with the book-buying public. Within a few years an expanded 2nd edition - that included a portrait of the author - was released and met with similar success.

Medicine in the Americas is a digital library project that makes freely available original works demonstrating the evolution of American medicine from colonial frontier outposts of the 17th century to research hospitals of the 20th century.

Stoneware, 'flakkrug', flatjug; cobalt-blue; pewter lid-mount; scallop-shell thumb-piece; turned finial; scrolled handle terminal; concave neck - grotesque lion mask, stamped rosettes, flowers; body - fluting, floral stamps; bell-shaped, cordoned foot-ring pedestal; obverse - central circular armorial panel - escutcheons of Bern, 2 rows of escutcheons of Bern official surrounds; centre - radiating, applied stamps 2 apostles, 4 lions, stamped flowers; escutcheons of Wittgenstein, Pappenheim, Wied, surmounted by crown, all framed in central circular panel, leaf-shaped surrounds, lozenge diaper, impressed linear foliage; circumference - central groove, turned banding, scallop-shaped stamps, impressed quatrefoils; inscription; monogram.

This is a reproduction of a recipe for a sealing wax from 1683. The original author is unknown. The language of the original has been preserved. I have included it here because it is interesting and shows that wax has been around for a long time; but more than that, it is a good illustration of the things we can do with wax. I have added a few notes about modern ingredients and where you can find them at the end.

The Fell Types took their name from John Fell, a Bishop of Oxford in the seventeenth-century. Not only he created an unique collection of printing types but he started one of the most important adventures in the history of typography. You will find here a non-exhaustive history and a modern digitalization of some of them.

The manuscript features some decidedly evil weaponry - shrapnel-filled grenades, grenade spears, bee-swarm baskets, barbed bombs and vessels for flinging explosive materials - that were no doubt used in the Thirty Years War that had begun in 1618.