The Return of 'The Book of Plates?'

Blemished copies of “The Book of Plates” that we sold out of years ago.

I swore on a stack of 18th-century manuscripts that we wouldn’t reprint “The Book of Plates,” which was an oversized volume containing all the engravings from “l’art du Menuisier” by A-J Roubo.

But we get constant requests for the book. And the prices on the secondary market are silly. So I am investigating a new edition.

This edition would be a slightly smaller trim size, 10" x 13". It would be printed on the same heavy #100 paper we used for our deluxe editions. For this edition, the plates would be printed in full color.

I think that detail – color – is what draws me to this project (perhaps to our doom). We paid more than $23,000 to have the plates photographed and digitized by a company that specializes in museum conservation.

And they are just sitting on my hard drive (and in the cloud).

But before I venture down this crooked and dangerous gulch, I’m going to do a poll or two on pricing and demand. Here’s the firs…