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Medieval Buildings and Timberframing Books

• Timber-Framed Buildings of England ~Usually Ships Within 2-3 Weeks
-R.J. Brown / Paperback 368 pages / Published July 1997
This book discusses several historic timber buildings from each period of English architecture dating back 600 years. Includes all types of medieval buildings, from houses, guild-halls, town halls, inns, mills, guildhalls, town markets, farm building and churches. Covers construction details for these building and the techniques used for their construction. Contains a chapter on repairing timberframed structures. Profusely illustrated with 380 line detailed drawings of construction details, including timberframing joinery.
Includes a bibliography and a 6 page Glossary.
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• The Open Timber Roofs of the Middle Ages ~Usually Ships Within 1-2 Business Days.
-Raphael and J. Authur Brandon / Paperback 104 pages
An old English architectural classic text. Well illustrated with perspective and working drawings and drawings of some of the finest surviving church roofs.
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• The Medieval English Domestic Timber Roof: A Handbook of Roof Types
  ~Usually Ships Within 24 Hours
-M.R.Bismanis / Paperback 246 pages / Published July 1987
American University Studies IX, History volume 25
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• English Historic Carpentry ~Usually Ships Within 2-3 Days
-Cecil A. Hewett / Paperback 338 pages / Published October 1997
An excellent text for the serious student and builder who needs an accurate detailed source of English timber carpentry methods. With numerous illustrations and photographs Hewitt covers all aspects of this craft, including timber and wood joints, door and windows, walls and roofs, and more. Methods of construction and assembly of the timber framed building is explained in detail. Plus decorative features.
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• Timber Buildings in Britain ~Special order, Usually Ships Within 2 Business Days
-R.W. Brunskill / Hardcover 239 pages / Published March 1986
This book explains the development of cruck construction, box-frame, post and beam construction. Covers roof construction details and problems. Building decorative work is also covered. An illustrated glossary with photographs and diagrams is included.
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• The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals : A Study of Medieval Vault Erection
  ~ Usually Ships Within 2 Business Days
-John Fitchen / Paperback 364 pages / Published April 1997
This comprehensive and fascinating book systematically explains the process of erecting the great edifices of the Gothic era. The author covers and explains the building equipment and falsework required, the actual operations undertaken, and the sequence of these operations as specifically as they can be deduced today. Since there are no contemporary accounts of the techniques used by medieval builders, this extraordinary study brilliantly pieces together clues from manuscript illuminations, from pictorial representations, and from the fabrics of the building themselves. This is an important book that no serious student of architecture will want to pass up.
Clearly written with beautiful illustrations.
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• Timber Framing for the Rest of Us: A Guide to Contemporary Post and Beam Construction
  ~ Usually Ships Within 2 Business Days
-Rob Roy / Paperback 176 pages / Published April 2004
Timber Framing for the Rest of Us describes the timber framing methods used by most contractors, farmers and owner-builders-methods that use modern metal fasteners, special screws and common sense building principles to accomplish the same goal in much less time. And while there are many good books on traditional timber framing, this is the first to describe in depth these more common fastening methods. The book includes everything an owner-builder needs to know about building strong and beautiful structural frames from heavy timbers. Covers the historical background of timber framing, crucial design and structural considerations, obtaining timbers, foundations, roofs and in-filling considerations, and the common fasteners.
An appendix of span tables and a bibliography.
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• Craft of Log Building
  ~ Usually Ships Within 2 Business Days
-Herman Phleps, Roger MacGregor (Translator) / Paperback 336 pages / Published March 1989
Publisher: Lee Valley Tools Originally published in 1942 in Germany as Der Blockbau, this book has since gained recognition as a definitive work on the history of European horizontal log construction. It begins with the physical make-up and properties of wood, tree species, and the many aspects of proper felling and seasoning. It continues with detailed chapters on foundations and sills, log walls, cornerwork and partition wall joinery (including intricate notching techniques), roof framing, and so on, right up to the ridge pole. Every facet of log construction is illustrated by both photographic material and exceptional drawings by the author, the latter comprising one of the most striking features of the entire work. This outstanding draftsmanship reveals, often in cutaway views, the intricacies of both constructional detail and frequently complex joinery. Includes methods of pegging and dowelling, sod roofing, numerous types of thatching, shingling and shingle making, floor and ceiling construction, cantilevered features, and decorative molded contouring.
This book has been a basic reference in Europe over the last 50 years. It adds tremendously to the basic instruction books currently available; it is useful to the first-time builder and a necessity for the professional. Includes over 500 illustrations.
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• The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral
  ~ Usually Ships Within 2 Business Days
-Robert A. Scott / Hardcover 336 pages / Published August 2003
This fascinating book explores why medieval people built Gothic cathedrals, how they built them, what conception of the divine lay behind their creation, and how religious and secular leaders used cathedrals for social and political purposes. This book helps us understand how ordinary people managed such tremendous feats of physical and creative energy at a time when technology was rudimentary, famine and disease were rampant, the climate was often harsh, and communal life was unstable and incessantly violent. The author describes the difficulties master-builders faced in scheduling construction that wouldn't be completed during their own lifetimes, how they managed without adequate numeric systems or paper on which to make detailed drawings, and how climate, natural disasters, wars, variations in the hours of daylight throughout the year, and the celebration of holy days affected the pace and timing of work.
The author's narrative offers a wealth of details concerning daily life during medieval times. Scott also explains such things as the role of relics, the quarrying and transporting of stone, and the conflicts cathedral-building projects caused within their communities.
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