An indispensable book for woodworkers. This is the first volume of Smith's masterwork on American hand planes. The volumes are indispensible to anyone studying the development of this tool. As of this writing, there is nothing that even comes close to Smith's comprehensiveness and sophisticated approach to the subject.. The volumes' lavish illustrations and high cost of production make it unlikely that anything approaching this sort of treatment will be published again. An indispensable book for woodworkers.