Decorative Sunday - The Age of Oak
This week we are sharing plates from the first volume of A History of English Furniture by Percy MacQuoid. The four volume series was published between 1904 and 1908 by Lawrence & Bullen (London) and G. P. Putnam’s Sons (New York), with the first volume, The Age of Oak, dated 1904-5. Lawrence & Bullen’s excellent printer’s mark can be seen on the title page above. MacQuoid (1852-1925) was a renowned theatre designer and a collector of English furniture. His four volume history was the first major survey of English furniture, with each volume covering a distinct period, dubbed by MacQuoid the ages of oak, walnut, mahogany, and satinwood. The first three terms in particular have endured as the standard designations of periods in English furniture design. The first volume covers “The Age of Oak,” roughly the 16th through mid-17th centuries, and contains many black and white illustrations as well as fifteen color reproductions of artwork by Shirley Slocombe.
Printing was done in Edinburgh by T. & A. Constable LTD. The T. refers to Thomas Constable (1812-1881), a Scottish printer and publisher following in the footsteps of his father, noted publisher and bookseller Archibald Constable (1774-1827). The elder Constable’s publishing company, Constable & Co., founded in 1795, survives to this day as Constable & Robinson, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. Thomas Constable left the publishing business in 1860 but continued to grow the printing part of his firm, employing as many as 50 compositors at any given time. Thomas’s son, Archibald, joined the printing firm in 1865 and the T. & A. Constable Ltd. name was established.
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-Olivia, Special Collections graduate intern



















