Sedgwick furniture maker and conservator Joshua Klein will share from his new book, Hands Employed Aright: The Furniture Making of Jonathan Fisher (1768-1847), at the Blue Hill Public Library on Tuesday, October 9th at 6:30 PM. The book is about local historical figure, minister, and furniture-maker Jonathan Fisher.
Jonathan Fisher was the first settled minister of Blue Hill. In addition, he was an artist, scientist, mathematician, surveyor, and writer of prose and poetry. Fisher recorded every aspect of his life on the frontier, including his woodworking.
The book examines what might be the most complete record of the life of an early 19th-century American craftsman. Using Fisher’s papers, his tools, and the surviving furniture, Klein paints a picture of a man of remarkable mechanical genius, seemingly boundless energy, and the deepest devotion.
Joshua A. Klein is the founder and editor of Mortise & Tenon Magazine and has been published by American Period Furniture and Popular Woodworking Magazine. Klein has been selected for the Early American Life Directory of Traditional American Crafts every year since 2015 for his hand-tool-only approach to period furniture making. Klein, with his wife and three sons, is currently restoring a 200-year-old cape while homesteading in Sedgwick, Maine.
This program is co-sponsored by the library, the Jonathan Fisher House Memorial, and Blue Hill Books. Books will be available for sale and signing. There is no charge, and everyone is welcome. For more information, call the library at 374-5515.
