Shaker Furniture in Books

As part of our continuing series of how to learn about the Shakers in museums and other media, you should also be aware that there is a TON of literature on the Shakers. Everything from history, customs, music, art, culture, handicrafts, economics, religion, food, and anything else about how they lived, has been written about in numerous books and articles. Lucky for me I inherited a large library of Shaker books! Reading really is the best way to learn about the Shakers. Not surprisingly, furniture books are the ones I have studied the most. Here is a list of some of my favorite Shaker books (not in any particular order):

Timothy D. Reiman and Jean M. Burks (2003), The Encyclopedia of Shaker Furniture;

Charles R. Muller and Timothy D. Reiman (1984), The Shaker Chair;

June Sprigg (1975), By Shaker Hands; and

John Kassay (1980), The Book of Shaker Furniture.

Pictured is a lot of Shaker furniture books that would make a great starter set for anybody interested in Shaker furniture. One of the books is a first edition of a very famous chair book. Yup! Even the books are collectibles! Check it out!