"Because of the increasing demand for woodworking projects embracing the designs of the famous masters, Chippendale, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton, the author has endeavored to secure dimensioned sketches and photographs of old fashioned furniture."

Active in the early 20th Century Manual Arts education movement, Frederick J. Bryant was Supervisor of Manual Arts in Auburn, Maine. Bryant traveled around Maine assembling a portfolio of measured drawings of classic examples of 17th, 18th and 19th Century furniture.