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This book "Oak-Framed Buildings" by Rupert Newman, gets my
vote for all around best book of its kind. It describes in amazing
clarity, the process of framing in England with heavy timber. Its
auther, Rupert Newman, started out as a naval architect and the
relationship between boat design and timber house design will
become evident in the book. A point of clarification: in England,
"timber framing" means light wood construction with
dimensional lumber, nails, and plywood - what we would call
"stick framing" in the US.

"Oak Framing" in England refers to a tradition of framing with heavy timber and compex
joinery, largely in oak, but also in other woods such as fir or larch. In the U.S. we would call this
timber framing, though the English tradition has some marked differences.

This book does a marvelous job of taking the reader through first the history of oak framing,
then a step by step procedural outline of how to buy land, design your house, and cut and erect a
frame. The drawings and photographs are first rate and organization of the book is
outstandingly easy to follow. The language is interesting enough to keep you aware that the
auther comes from the place where the language was conceived, peppered with words like
"whilst".

I was struck by many things in this book, the first being the realization that with land being so
dear in England, once a future homeowner secures a piece of property, they will tend to spare no
expense in creating a beautiful built environment. The next thing that got my attention was that
the traditional English frames that Mr. Newman is designing and building are both massive, and
so beautifully proportioned as to seem graceful and flowing in all perspectives. I am completely
humbled by the work that Mr. Newman and his countrymen are doing, my own work seeming so
basic and simple by comparison. In closing, this is the first book that I have seen on this subject
of timber or oak framing, with which a reasonably skilled craftsperson could use to help him or
her design and build their own home with no outside assistance. My hat is off to Rupert Newman
for this landmark piece of work!

I got my copy from my neighborhood book store, I see that amazon has them, and the publisher
is Guild of Master Craftsmen Publications.