Date based on publisher's advertisements in Massey Library copy and publisher's address. Cf. Brown, Philip A. H. London publishers and printers, 1982.

Lithographed plates, numbered I-XIV, are printed on both sides and included in pagination. Plates are printed in red-brown.

Text printed within red rule borders.

"It is not our intention, nor is it at all necessary, in this Manual, to give an antiquarian or any other kind of history of the Art of Wood Carving. Our object is to instruct in the art itself, not to enlighten our readers as to its past history; and therefore an historical disquisition on its rise and progress would be out of place in our pages ... In the following Manual, some perfectly new features in decorative carving -- such as the introduction of nail-heads, and a new groundwork, will be found, and these the amateur will soon see are of great service to him ... "--Introduction.

Includes small wood-engraved decorative initials and tail-pieces.

Publisher's advertisements on p. [2-7] at end.

MASS copy: Bound in red sand-grain cloth blocked in gold and blind. Boards with bevelled edges; a.e. stained red. With red-brown painted endpapers. Lacking p. [i]-iv.