“The strength of the book is the vast level of research and stunning photographs that offer excellent examples of the characteristic designs of specific shops in eastern Massachusetts and the District of Maine.
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The author’s level of scholarship is apparent through his capability to accurately trace the stones produced by Massachusetts carvers from Nova Scotia, Canada to Charleston, South Carolina, and destinations in between. Through the tireless research of deeds, private correspondence, cemetery, courts, estate, and shop records, along with other documents, the reader gets a sense of the interactions of particular shops and the lives that some of the more prominent cutters lived.
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One of the treasures of the work aside from the disc is the “freytag27+” scale in the appendix created by the author. This chart maps the letters and numbers of nearly all of the carvers in alphabetical order, showing each artisan’s individual style.
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This is a highly polished and accomplished work that is easily engaging, yet holds a wealth of information on people, shops, aesthetic trends, and historic periods. From Slate to Marble is the type of publication that crosses over genres, engaging readers from a history background to crafts and beyond, and is strongly recommended.”