author

F. (Frederick) Maire

Best known for practical early-20th-century books on painting, finishing, and decorative work, this author wrote for working tradespeople rather than a literary audience. His surviving books still read like hands-on guides from the shop floor, full of techniques for wood finishing, interior painting, and industrial paint work.

1 Audiobook

Graining and Marbling A Series of Practical Treatises on Material, Tools and Appliances Used; General Operations; Preparing Oil Graining Colors; Mixing; Rubbing; Applying Distemper Colors; Wiping Out; Penciling; The Use of Crayons; Review of Woods; The Graining of Oak, Ash, Cherry, Satinwood, Mahogany, Maple, Bird's Eye Maple, Sycamore, Walnut, Etc.; Marbling in All Shades.

Graining and Marbling A Series of Practical Treatises on Material, Tools and Appliances Used; General Operations; Preparing Oil Graining Colors; Mixing; Rubbing; Applying Distemper Colors; Wiping Out; Penciling; The Use of Crayons; Review of Woods; The Graining of Oak, Ash, Cherry, Satinwood, Mahogany, Maple, Bird's Eye Maple, Sycamore, Walnut, Etc.; Marbling in All Shades.

by F. (Frederick) Maire

About the author

Frederick Maire was an early-1900s writer on painting and finishing trades, with books published in Chicago including The Modern Wood Finisher (1901) and Interior Painting (around 1910). Catalog and digitized library records also connect him with Modern Painter's Cyclopedia and other manuals on practical paint and decorating work.

The strongest thread running through his work is usefulness. One edition of The Modern Wood Finisher identifies him as a former editor of Painting and Decorating, which fits the direct, instructional style of his books: they focus on materials, tools, surface preparation, varnishing, polishing, and other real workshop methods.

Very little verified biographical detail about his personal life appears in the sources I found, so he is best understood through the books themselves. They preserve the working knowledge of a craft professional who wrote to teach painters, finishers, and decorators how to do the job well.