Book of woods

November 18, 2006 12:41 PM

I saw a book once on the various types of woods, and included in the book (bound in) were thin samples of each wood so you got to see the wood itself rather than a photo. But I can't recall the name of the book and numerous searches have turned up nothing. FWIW, I saw the book in a bookstore in Berkeley that specializes in architectural/building books. Any ideas of the title and/or source for the book? Thanks.
posted by LeisureGuy to home & garden (13 comments total)

Aggh! My mother used to have this book or one just like it, and I think it was called something completely unhelpful like "Wood" or "Trees". It was exceedingly cool.

She's on a trip this weekend, but if no one else can help you out, I'll call her next week to see if she can remember it.
posted by redfoxtail at 12:53 PM on November 18, 2006

I saw it at the bookstore at MoMA a few years ago, too. This isn't it, but depending on your purposes, it may fill the bill: What Wood is That
posted by eve harrington at 12:54 PM on November 18, 2006

Judging by this, the search term you might be looking for could be "xylothek".
posted by -harlequin- at 1:25 PM on November 18, 2006

I am assuming that something like this is a bit off-track, but on the off chance it might be apropos, are you sure it wasn't a xylothek?
posted by jessamyn at 1:34 PM on November 18, 2006

Would it be American Woods by Romeyn B. Hough? That link goes to a digital collection of the plates themselves. If I recall correctly, these look like books when I on the shelf, but are actually little boxes with the pages w/wood samples laid in like a portfolio.
posted by marxchivist at 1:35 PM on November 18, 2006

Is it The Woodbook?
posted by iconomy at 1:50 PM on November 18, 2006

I assume you were at Builders' Booksource in Berkeley - they carried a kind of modernist xylothek last year, as well as the Leistikow book above. I would call them - their staff is very knowledgeable about their stock and they will know the book and how to get if for you if it's no longer in stock.
posted by luriete at 1:57 PM on November 18, 2006

Ditto what Eve said, "What wood is that" is a book my architect friend owns, and fits your description.
posted by Joh at 2:10 PM on November 18, 2006

Right! Builders' Booksource, that was the place. We'll call. -harlequin-'s link is fascinating, though. Many thanks to all.
posted by LeisureGuy at 2:36 PM on November 18, 2006

The Wood Book looks like a great alternative to a xylothek (a new word to me---and, judging by the underline, to Firefox 2.0's spelling checker). Excellent help.
posted by LeisureGuy at 2:57 PM on November 18, 2006

Here's the Woodbook's official site.
posted by dobbs at 6:54 PM on November 18, 2006

Birch Bark Book
posted by hortense at 8:04 PM on November 18, 2006

I know you have your answer but you might be interested in this too (what's with the comments there, I hear you ask. I don't know what was going on).
posted by tellurian at 6:44 PM on November 19, 2006