Although I wouldn't recommend this book to a novice furniture historian, nor to a novice collector, for the more experienced student of l8thC furniture history this book is an invaluable source of information seldom, if ever, published in one volume before. The format of the book allows research by subject alone (e.g. material and techniques) if, like me, you find the text rather too dry and heavy going to be a steady read. I would suggest that no serious library of furniture history will be complete without this volume.