Bark Canoes and Skin Boats - Gutenberg.org

Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America by Adney and Chapelle is now out of copyright and has been converted into various e-versions by the good folks at Gutenberg.org. Unlike a many other sites that use text recognition software to render into electronic forms (resulting in plenty of formatting and text errors), the ones on Gutenberg are prepared and edited with real eyes. This version even has all the wonderful illustrations and photos of the hard copy, although at a lower resolution and size.

Here are the links to the page where you can view online in your browser or download the epub or kindle versions. Of course, this book has been instrumental in my own paddle making journey. Many of the paddles illustrated in the book have been starting points for replicas carved over the years. Here are just a few of the wonderful illustrations...

Being a fan of print books, I'm still very happy having a hard cover version. If anyone is interested in getting a hardcopy, consider ordering from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association bookstore. For a long time, they were one of the few sources you could obtain the book long after it went out of print.