Wharton Esherick: The Journey of a Creative Mind is the first and only comprehensive look at the colorful life and work of this seminal artist-craftsman. Written by Esherick's son-in-law, it is rich in biographical detail. Lavishly illustrated, it features photos from the Esherick archive in combination with photographs taken expressly for this book of the woodland studio that Esherick designed, built, and furnished for himself over the course of several decades. Now a historic house museum, preserved as Esherick left it, this remarkable structure and its contents, almost all of which he made by hand, are testament to the warmth, poetry, and passion of the one of America's most influential and celebrated artist-craftsman.

A rich collection of imagery explores the actual homes of three of the most esteemed wood artist/craftsmen of the modern era: Wharton Esherick, Sam Maloofi, and George Nakashima. Tour the private homes of these masters and compare their innovation and vision through the medium of their own homes, gardens, and work areas. Step into their environments, where aesthetics are most accurately realized. You’ll delight in Esherick’s humble mountaintop home where straight lines were purposefully forbidden, and Maloof’s sprawling California home that expresses his inexhaustible creativity and industriousness. Nakashima‘s home is a harmonious marriage of Japanese influences with Pennsylvania’s rich natural resources. This book is a must-have for devotees of these artists, as well as aspiring woodworkers who want tutelage from the top.

In 1922, Wharton Esherick showed a copy Rhymes of Early Jungle Folk, which he had illustrated with woodcut prints, to Harold Mason, owner of the Centaur Bookshop in Philadelphia. Impressed by what he saw, Mason asked Esherick to illustrate Walt Whitman’s Song of the Broad-Axe, which Mason published in a limited edition in 1924.  Inspired by the woodcuts, Esherick created a hand-bound prototype book of Whitman’s poem, using prints made directly from his blocks and hand-lettering it in Esherick’s own calligraphic style. Illuminated letters were used to begin paragraphs, and spaces at the end of lines were filled with blue and yellow drawings that reflect the content of the verses. The result of this labor of love was a work of art, 17x12 inches, with pages of handmade paper, folded and uncut.  This book is a reproduction of Esherick’s prototype, authorized by the Wharton Esherick Museum. Though this edition is smaller than the prototype book, the original was carefully scanned and printed to provide as true a reproduction as possible. It faithfully captures the artist’s vision and skill and, for the first time, makes this wonderful work available to the general public. It will be appreciated by all admirers of Esherick, Whitman, and lovers of fine books.