Little Book About Old Furniture - The Period Of Queen Anne

There are books that arrive looking as though they have spent a century being lovingly admired. This is not one of them. This copy of Little Book About Old Furniture – The Period of Queen Anne looks as though it has spent the last hundred years being consulted by earnest collectors, borrowed by neighbours who never quite remembered to dust, and rescued from shelves that had seen considerably better decades. It wears its years openly, with all the honesty of an elderly oak sideboard that refuses to apologise for the scratches.

Originally published in 1927 by William Heinemann, J. P. Blake and A. E. Reveirs-Hopkins take readers on a wonderfully concise tour through the elegant world of Queen Anne furniture, exploring the graceful walnut cabinets, cabriole-legged chairs and restrained craftsmanship that marked one of England’s most enduring design periods. Written as an accessible guide for collectors rather than a dry academic tome, it remains surprisingly readable nearly a century later, offering an insight into furniture appreciation from an era when many genuine Queen Anne pieces were merely "old furniture" rather than museum treasures.

The condition is best described as Fair, although there is something rather fitting about that. The binding to one of the rear signatures has become very loose, yet everything remains together exactly as it should. It is rather like an elderly antique chair that wobbles ominously whenever anyone sits on it but somehow survives another family Christmas. The covers show plenty of wear and the book has the comfortably tired appearance of something that has spent decades earning its keep rather than posing decoratively on a bookshelf.

Inside, however, it still performs the task it was created for. The illustrations remain charming, the observations thoughtful, and the advice occasionally reminds us that every generation believes it has discovered antiques for the very first time. There is a gentle irony in reading a 1927 guide to "old furniture" which itself has now become an antique deserving of the very care it once encouraged collectors to lavish upon eighteenth-century cabinets.

It also captures a fascinating moment in collecting history. Blake and Reveirs-Hopkins were writing when Queen Anne furniture was still relatively affordable to enthusiastic amateurs, long before auction houses, television experts and eye-watering price tags transformed antiques into investment portfolios with legs. Their enthusiasm is refreshingly practical, celebrating craftsmanship rather than celebrity provenance.

Naturally, this is not the pristine collector’s copy that has slumbered untouched inside a mahogany cabinet since the reign of George V. If that is what you seek, this one will cheerfully disappoint. If, however, you enjoy books that have acquired almost as much character as the furniture they describe, this weary survivor has plenty to offer. Every crease, rubbed corner and slightly fragile gathering simply adds another chapter to its own history.

Sold, as always, by Crappy Old Books—because immaculate copies are all very well, but the slightly battle-scarred ones usually have the better stories.

Keep browsing: See more Antiques books Other books by JP Blake and AE Reveirs-Hopkins