page_title: André Jacob Roubo
section_title: Works
hierarchical_section_title: André Jacob Roubo / Works
context_page_description: André Jacob Roubo 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.
  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.
  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.
context_section_description: 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. L’Art du Menuisier was reprinted in its original format in by Léonce Laget in 1977 and again in 1982. In 2002, the French publisher Bibliothèque de l’Image published an edition at a more affordable price, which also contains L'Art du layetier.
  L’Art du Menuisier is divided into four volumes:
  Première partie (building joinery part I) – 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) – 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) – the third part consist of three discrete sections: coach construction, furniture, and cabinetmaking.
  Quatrieme partie (garden woodwork) – this part covers the fundamentals of outdoor woodwork and deals with trellis, pilasters & columns, vases & flowerpots.
  The original four-volume work consisted of 1066 pages in total and many hundreds of plates which were engraved by Roubo 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). 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.
caption: Elevation view of a garden pavilion and latticed gallery, from plate 365 of L'Art de Treillageur ou menuiserie des jardins (1775)
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