André Jacob Roubo#Works

File:Roubo.png

André Jacob Roubo (1739–1791) was a French carpenter, cabinetmaker and author. Roubo was born and died in Paris, and was the son and grandson of master cabinetmakers. Roubo wrote several highly influential books on woodworking, an achievement which was especially notable given his relatively poor background and self-taught methods.{{cite web |url=https://blog.lostartpress.com/2013/02/10/andre-roubo-elbow-grease-tallow-and-books/ |title=André Roubo: Elbow Grease, Tallow and Books |last=Anderson |first=Brian |date=10 February 2010 |publisher=Lost Art Press |access-date=7 July 2019}}

His career peaked in 1774 when he published his masterwork treatise on woodworking, titled L'Art du Menuisier. This long-standing work covered practically all methods and trades associated with woodworking. Another of Roubo's legacies still used today is a design for a workbench, which has proven to be popular amongst modern woodworkers.{{cite book |last=Landis |first=Scott |year=1998 |title=The Workbench Book |publisher=Taunton Press}}{{cite book |last=Schwarz |first=Christopher |year=2011 |title=The Workbench Design Book: The Art & Philosophy of Building Better Benches |publisher=Popular Woodworking Books}}{{cite book |last=Schwarz |first=Christopher |year=2017 |title=Workbenches Revised Edition: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use |publisher=Popular Woodworking Books}}

A street in Paris, rue Roubo, was named after Roubo in 1850. It is located in the 11th Arrondissement, an area inhabited by furniture manufacturers.{{cite web |url=http://www.v2asp.paris.fr/commun/v2asp/v2/nomenclature_voies/Voieactu/8347.nom.htm |language=French |title=Recherche des rues de Paris: rue Roubo |date=9 June 2008 |website=paris.fr |access-date=7 August 2019}}

Personal life and career

André Jacob Roubo was born in Paris in 1739, the son and grandson of fellow woodworkers. His father was a joiner, and André became his apprentice in 1750 at the age of 11.{{cite web |url=https://blog.lostartpress.com/2010/12/16/what-made-andre-jacob-roubo-tick-part-3/ |title=What made André Jacob Roubo Tick? Part 3 |publisher=Lost Art Press |last=Williams |first=Don |date=16 December 2010 |access-date=7 August 2019}} Despite having a relatively poor upbringing, André was literate and taught himself various topics including mathematics and design. His dedication for learning attracted the attention of several professionals, including the architect Jean-François Blondel. Roubo became a pupil of Blondel who waived his tuition fees, and spent five years studying whilst also working for his father during the day. He received the title of Master in 1770 upon publication of the first part of L'Art du Menuisier. He designed and supervised the construction of the great domes of the halls Wheat and Cloth, and a monumental staircase to the hotel of the Marquis de Marbeuf.

In 1768, at the age of 29, Roubo started working on his treatise more intensively, having done practical woodwork for 18 years. This treatise was published in four volumes between 1769 and 1775. In 1777, he published the first part of a treatise of theater construction and theatrical machinery. The footnotes of these books show that Roubo had an interest in the social status of artisans. In 1789 most of his noble customers had left France; Roubo was nearly bankrupt and was forced to join the National Guard in 1790. Here he achieved the rank of Lieutenant before dying in 1791. He left a widow and four children who lived on his pension in Rue Saint-Jacques, Paris.

Roubo died in Paris in 1791.[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ActeD%C3%A9c%C3%A8sA-J-Roubo.jpg Death certificate] of André Jacob Roubo A biography of Roubo was written in 1836 by the architect and carpenter Louis-Auguste Boileau in the series Portraits et histoire des hommes utiles (Portraits and History of Useful Men) published by Franklin Montyon and Company.{{cite book |section-url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k207190q/f114 |language=French |section=Roubo |title=Portraits et histoire des hommes utiles |publisher=Franklin Montyon and Company |year=1836 |location=Paris}}

Works

File:André-Jacob Roubo - Garden Pavilion and Latticed Gallery with an Alternative Design plate 365 from the publication "L'Ar... - Google Art Project.jpg

Roubo's comprehensive four-part treatise L’Art du Menuisier (The Art of the Carpenter) was published between 1769 and 1775 by the Académie des Sciences, with the supplementary work L'Art du layetier being published in 1782.{{cite web |url=http://roubo.free.fr/ |title=André-Jacob Roubo: L'art du menuisier |at=Extrait de Les Artistes décorateurs du bois, Tome II |language=French |access-date=6 August 2019}} L’Art du Menuisier was reprinted in its original format in by Léonce Laget in 1977 and again in 1982.{{cite web |url=https://benchcrafted.blogspot.com/2014/10/for-sale-lart-du-menuisier.html |title=For Sale: L'Art Du Menuisier |website=Benchcrafted |date=13 October 2014 |last=Abraham |first=Jameel |access-date=6 August 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://blog.lostartpress.com/2012/12/31/faq-to-make-as-perfectly-as-possible/ |title=FAQ: 'To Make as Perfectly as Possible' |website=Lost Art Press |date=31 December 2012 |access-date=6 August 2019}} In 2002, the French publisher Bibliothèque de l’Image published an edition at a more affordable price, which also contains L'Art du layetier.{{cite web |url=https://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9782914661423?cm_sp=bdp-_-ISBN13-_-PLP |website=Abe Books |access-date=6 August 2019 |title=Le menuisier en bâtiment}}

L’Art du Menuisier is divided into four volumes:{{cite book |title=L'Art Du Menuisier |last=Roubo |first=André Jacob |year=1769–1775 |volume=1–4 |language=French |url=https://www.roubo.art}}

Première partie (building joinery part I){{snd}}this part covers basic geometry, types of wood, profiles, assemblages, tools, mobile joinery, shutters and wickets, crosses, and doors.
Seconde partie (building joinery part II){{snd}}this part covers flooring (including parquetry), panelling, interior decoration, liturgical furniture, installation and assembly of joinery, arches and curves, and stairs.
Troisième partie (specialty woodwork){{snd}}the third part consist of three discrete sections: coach construction, furniture, and cabinetmaking.
Quatrieme partie (garden woodwork){{snd}}this part covers the fundamentals of outdoor woodwork and deals with trellis, pilasters & columns, vases & flowerpots.

The original four-volume work consisted of 1316 pages in total and 383 copper engraved plates. Every plate was designed by Roubo and 181 of them are engraved by himself. Sometimes colloquially referred to as "The Roubo", it is considered even today as the best guide for traditional joinery. It develops and discusses in detail the technical knowledge of carpentry that was under Louis XV in its heyday.

Roubo also had an interest in theatrical design, and published a treatise on the construction of theatres and theatrical mechanics in 1777, titled Traité de la construction des théâtres et des machines théâtrales. This was reprinted by Slatkine Reprints in 1984 under the false name of Jacques-André ({{ISBN|2051006466}}).{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} However, Roubo only published the first part (the history and architecture of theaters), even though the second part (on theatrical machines) was declared ready to print in 1777. The original work contains 66 pages of text and 10 engravings.

Roubo's workbench

File:A-J_Roubo_-_L'Art_du_Menuisier_-_Planche_279.png

Roubo's workbench design has gained appreciation from modern woodworkers as a simple, reliable, and beautiful workbench that can be built at home.{{cite web |url=https://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/the-return-of-roubo/ |title=The Return of Roubo |last=Schwarz |first=Christopher |date=5 April 2020|website=Popular Woodworking |publisher=Popular Woodworking |access-date=2 September 2022 |quote=Thank You, Monsieur Roubu – I’ve built (or helped build) more than a dozen workbenches based on the 18th-century designs of André J. Roubo, a French cabinetmaker and writer. And after five years of working on Roubo’s bench I think it is an ideal bench with almost none of the downsides or limitations I’ve found on other forms. – And here’s to you Monsieur Roubo. Few workbench designs are as bullet-proof or as simple as those of A.J. Roubo, an 18th-century cabinetmaker who also was a fine writer.}}

Gallery

File:A-J_Roubo_-_L'Art_du_Menuisier_-_Planche_011.png|Original design for Roubo's famous workbench

File:Veneer_sawing_001.png|Roubo-era veneering saw

File:A-J Roubo - L'Art du Menuisier - Planche 096.png|Elevation of a pipe organ designed by Roubo

File:A-J Roubo - L'Art du Menuisier - Planche 144.png|An extract from L’Art du Menuisier

References

External links

[http://blog.lostartpress.com/2008/06/07/andre-j-roubo-translation-of-“l’art-du-menuisier”/ Lost Art Press blog], a project to translate L'Art du Menuisier (with sample section)
[http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?parent_id=1081909&word= Plates from L'art du menuisier] at New York Public Library Digital Library
[https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Roubo%2C+M.+%28Andre%CC%81+Jacob%29%2C+1739-1791%22 Historical publications by Roubo] at the Internet Archive