Links to awesome & inspiring sites and resources.
(If the link takes you to a website that doesn’t offer a version in your preferred language, you can paste the address into Google translate and it will translate all of the text on the website for you.)
LIBRARIES
Bibliotheque National de France – The National Library of France which has many 18th century books scanned into digital format.
Les Arts Decoratifs – The library of the Museum of Decorative Arts
MUSEUMS & HISTORICAL LOCATIONS
Opificio Delle Pietre Dure – “The Precious Stones” also known as OPD is an autonomous Institute of the Ministry of National Heritage and Cultural Affairs and Tourism whose operating activities and research is carried out in the field of restoration of works of art.
Versailles – The Palace of Versailles
The Friends of Versailles – A sister organization to Les Amis de Versailles and the official representative for Versailles in the United States. The express purpose of the corporation is to encourage support of the Palace of Versailles and its gardens focusing on cultural interchange between the United States and France in the fields of education, architecture, fine and decorative arts, garden architecture and musical endeavors. They raise funds for the support of seminars, educational exchange and specific restoration projects in the Palace and its gardens.
SCHOOLS
L’ecole Boulle – The premiere school for art professions in France.
The American School of French Marquetry – The only place to learn how to make traditional French Marquetry in the U.S.
BOOKS
L’Art Du Menuisier – The most comprehensive book on 18th century French Menuiserie and Ébénisterie which was published in 3 enormous volumes by André-Jacob Roubo. This edition was printed in 1769 and the digitized version of it may be viewed in it’s entirety on this swiss library collaboration project’s website.
L’Enseignement Professionnel du Menuisier – Another great book on Menuiserie which is by Léon Jamin, published in 1896. The entire digitized version of this book can be viewed on the Bibliothèque nationale de France’s website.
Le Dictionnaire Pratique de Menuiserie – Ebénisterie – Charpente by J. Justin Storck, 1900