Observations on The Forgotten Art of Building a Good Fireplace

Orton, Vrest

ISBN 10: 0911469176 / ISBN 13: 9780911469172

Published by Yankee , Inc., Dublin, New Hampshire, 1974

About this Item

Soft cover in very good condition with wraps bright & crisp, unmarked & uncreased. Interior text block clean & tight; no writing. There is a light beige circular stain at the bottem of the margin of pages 34 to last page; does not effect text. See photos. Contains illustrations and diagrams throughout. 60 numbered pages. From the "About This Book" page, " . . . Trouble is, most fireplaces built in American homes in the last fifty years have been built wrong: they are low, squatly, unattractive boxes and they usually smoke. Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, an American genius of equal stature in science and invention to Benjamin Franklin, established basic and immutable principles of fireplace design in 1795; these have remained unchanged and nearly unknown since that time. Vrest Orton has written the first separate book since 1906 on Rumford's fireplace designs. He sets forth in this volume the basic principles and, with drawings by Austin Stevens based n Rumford's work, he gives the right way and the handsome way. Armed with this book, a gentleman can also make masons alter bad fireplaces so they ill be good fireplaces. Mr. Orton also includes a short sketch of Rumford's life which is an amazing story in itself because Count Rumford has been deliberately neglected by American historians. He also compares Rumford's work on fireplaces with Benjamen Franklin's speculation n the same fascinating subject.".

Seller Inventory # M002034

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Observations on The Forgotten Art of Building a Good Fireplace
• Publisher: Yankee , Inc., Dublin, New Hampshire
• Publication Date: 1974
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0911469176
• ISBN 13: 9780911469172
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 2nd Edition
• Printing: 12th Printing
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • House & Home

About this title

Synopsis

Since its original publication in 1969 by Yankee, Inc.,Vrest Orton's classic book on fireplace design has gone through numerous printings and has brought about a revival of the Rumford fireplace. The basic principles that Count Rumford set forth in 1795 describe the construction of a large shallow fireplace which does not smoke and which throws out much more heat than many of today's fireplaces which send too much of the heat up the chimney. This new edition contains some practical notes by Wally Leeds, a mason in Tunbridge,Vermont who builds Rumford fireplaces today.

From the Publisher

Vrest Orton loved the five fireplaces in his 1828 Federal brick house in Weston, Vermont because of their architectural beauty and because of the enormous amount of heat they produced without letting smoke into the rooms. In his quest to understand why his old fireplaces worked so much better than most "modern" versions, Orton discovered the work of Count Rumford, the eighteenth-century genius who brought fireplace design to an unprecedented level of efficiency.

Born Benjamin Thompson in Woburn, Massachusetts in 1753, Rumford was a Tory during the American Revolution, and he emigrated to Britain. While in Britain, he applied himself to the study and improvement of smoky fireplaces, and had so much success that his fame spread to Europe. In Bavaria, his contributions to society were so appreciated that he was ennobled as "Count of the Holy Roman Empire" by the Elector of Bavaria. He took the name "Rumford" from the old name for Concord, New Hampshire.

In this book, Vrest Orton recounts the fascinating story of Count Rumford. He then goes on to spell out Rumford's basic principals of fireplace design with the help of drawings by Austin Stevens. Since its original publication in 1969, this book has gone through numerous printings and has brought about a revival of the Rumford fireplace.

Vrest Orton served in France during World War I, had a distinguished career in book and magazine publishing for twenty years, and then moved back to Vermont after Pentagon service following World War II to found the Vermont Country Store, which issues one of America's most trusted and popular mail-order catalogs.

This new edition included some notes and clarification by Wally Leeds, a mason in Tunbridge, Vermont who had built many Rumford fireplaces. In addition, there is a preface by Lyman Orton, son of Vrest Orton.