What do you think?
Rate this book
Manual práctico de la vida autosuficiente
Vergessene Künste: Bilder vom alten Handwerk
A través de esta obra, de la serie 'Manual Práctico de la vida autosuficiente', John Seymour, uno de los grandes precursores del autoabastecimiento, nos ofrece información práctica sobre: almacenamiento y conserva de los productos del huerto; elaboración de cerveza, vino, sidra y vinagre; planificación y fabricación de mantequilla y queso; productos artesanales: cestería, hilatura de lana y algodón, tintes y tejidos, fabricación de ladrillos y tejas, trabajos en madera y mucho más. Actualmente, la alimentación es cada vez más cara, y se observa un renacer del huerto como autoabastecimiento. La gente se da cuenta de que de ese modo puede ahorrar una parte importante de sus ingresos, que sus comidas saben y sientan mejor y que sus hijos crecen más sanos. Y una de las sensaciones más satisfactorias que hay es contribuir a que la naturaleza dé alimentos atractivos y nutritivos a partir de muy poca cosa. Allí donde hace unos años había, en toda Europa, miles de parcelas sin cultivar, existe ahora una larga lista de espera para poder adquirirlas. La horticultura está perdiendo en todas partes su imagen de entretenimiento para jubilados; los jóvenes se interesan por su aprendizaje y se buscan nuevas técnicas.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1984
13 people are currently reading
1147 people want to read
About the author
John Seymour
107 books144 followersJohn Seymour was an idealist - he had a vision of a better world where people aren't alienated from their labours. As a young man, he travelled all over Africa and fought in Burma in World War II. Returning penniless to England, he lived in a trolley bus and on a Dutch sailing barge before settling on a five-acre smallholding in Suffolk to lead a self-sufficient life. He continued this lifestyle with his companion Angela Ashe on the banks of the River Barrow in County Wexford, Ireland. The two had built up the smallholding from scratch over 19 years. In his last years John, Angela and William Sutherland had been running courses in self-sufficiency from their home at Killowen, New Ross. The courses were taken by students from all over the world, who come to Killowen to learn about his lifestyle and philosophies at first hand.
He was the author of over 40 books, including the best-selling The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency, and he had made numerous films and radio programmes. Most of his later writing and public campaigning had been devoted to country matters, self-sufficiency and the environment.
In the last 18 months, he was back on his beloved Pembrokeshire farm with his daughter Ann, telling stories to his grandchildren and writing rhyming poetry, with an acerbic wit that was his last weapon against what he saw as our destructive era.
He was the author of over 40 books, including the best-selling The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency, and he had made numerous films and radio programmes. Most of his later writing and public campaigning had been devoted to country matters, self-sufficiency and the environment.
In the last 18 months, he was back on his beloved Pembrokeshire farm with his daughter Ann, telling stories to his grandchildren and writing rhyming poetry, with an acerbic wit that was his last weapon against what he saw as our destructive era.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
March 5, 2017
Honestly, I did not finish this book - but skimmed it... The writing was too detailed, and sometimes it was easy to lose focus, to just sit down and read the whole thing.
John Seymour does future generations a favor by recording all these different crafts, trades, and skills in one place. Seymour provides summaries of the work done, but does not provide instructions. It's kind of like, here's something that used to be done, why, different parts of the task - you can find the how to on your own... hopefully!
What I loved was Seymour's attitude towards this current era, what he calls "Age of Plunder." He mentions we have lost touch with the craft and purpose of various crafts. He is so absolutely right. The best part about this book, was as I skimmed many of the crafts, I realized how green they are - meaning that we didn't create pollution or destruction to do these tasks as we do now - at least not to the same exploitation.
This is a great book to have on the shelf and look at when you aren't interested in reading a longer book or to pass a short amount of time. Good stuff here.
John Seymour does future generations a favor by recording all these different crafts, trades, and skills in one place. Seymour provides summaries of the work done, but does not provide instructions. It's kind of like, here's something that used to be done, why, different parts of the task - you can find the how to on your own... hopefully!
What I loved was Seymour's attitude towards this current era, what he calls "Age of Plunder." He mentions we have lost touch with the craft and purpose of various crafts. He is so absolutely right. The best part about this book, was as I skimmed many of the crafts, I realized how green they are - meaning that we didn't create pollution or destruction to do these tasks as we do now - at least not to the same exploitation.
This is a great book to have on the shelf and look at when you aren't interested in reading a longer book or to pass a short amount of time. Good stuff here.
December 28, 2018
Have tagged this "stone" -- Building with stone. Stone masters like Michelangelo fascinate, but I'd appreciate being able rearrange rocks for ... bliss included.
- rather than urban fantasy, I'll stock my library with these survival skill type books.
**
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
- rather than urban fantasy, I'll stock my library with these survival skill type books.
**
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
August 21, 2015
A fantastic tribute to the crafts and skills that underpinned sustainable living. Beautifully illustrated and drawing on John Seymour's fascinating life as a soldier, farmer, agricultural worker and craftsman. Spiced up with anecdotes including some from time spent in Zambia and Namibia. A wonderful treasured book.
March 1, 2011
Fabulous book. Found this randomly while wandering around a small public library in PA, and later realized it's the same author as a book i got last year for my mom.
It's just a quick introduction to all the traditional crafts of small farms, but since most of them have been lost to our generation, almost morbidly intriguing. I had never heard of coppicing before, and also learned that a wainwright is someone who builds wagons. As a knitter, i especially liked the textiles section, but also could see just how introductory the book is. Nice illustrations too.
It's just a quick introduction to all the traditional crafts of small farms, but since most of them have been lost to our generation, almost morbidly intriguing. I had never heard of coppicing before, and also learned that a wainwright is someone who builds wagons. As a knitter, i especially liked the textiles section, but also could see just how introductory the book is. Nice illustrations too.
November 2, 2018
LOVED everything about this book and want to read more books like it. This gem caught my attention on the library bookshelf. Intrigued about the crafts of the good old days, I picked up this book to kill some time and what it offered me was a unique perspective into the society we once lived in. The simplicity in hard work ethic, generational skills, and the value of craftsmanship. (Theres even a good little jist on the perspective of male and female equality in the age before feminism--very interesting and surprisingly true) I love how the male author values the woman aspect of all things crafts as well. This author I hope to learn more about--with this book being one part simple overview of multiple topics, one part descriptive story telling and one part DIY, it was seriously right up my ally. Especially with the holiday crafts at the back! Talk about cool.... it was very late to the library..... ops....
September 25, 2019
A mesmerizing introduction into older ways of life. I'm so glad resources like this are accessible so we can learn about life before the Industrial Revolution and general technologization of human life. This is exactly the type of book I'd pore over as a kid. The attitude of the author fits his time, but the writing has that particular flavor of someone who's actually done what he's writing about, which is a rare treasure.
Read
January 9, 2021 interesting book with lots of pictures and drawings. info about splitting wood, making baskets and hurdles, tanning hides, making wooden wheels, making a kiln to fire pottery, making charcoal, thatching roofs, laying stone walls, making shoes, knives, bricks, paper, weaving, cheese, lye and soap, candles, and much more. i'd have loved more detail about some of those, but i very much enjoyed this book and all its pictures.
September 13, 2022
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did, but the drawings, although well done, weren't very helpful, and the author just kept harping on how all the progress up until 1925 or so was great but everything after that was a mistake and society should have stopped there.
August 4, 2025
John Seymour shows a more detailed look into the past and how it bleeds into the present than any other books I’ve read. This is not a step-by-step guide, but rather a wake-up call for how vast and complicated our methods of creation are, and how much we miss by not paying careful attention.
April 18, 2020
Very complete guide. I read it in Spanish.
Can be found at https://www.scribd.com/doc/70454989/S...
Can be found at https://www.scribd.com/doc/70454989/S...
December 15, 2020
Very interesting. Too big to get to all the topics I considered (I didn't want to read about all of them), but informative and quite fascinating for the ones I did.
March 31, 2022
This book does have some wonderful and hard-to-come-by information on certain domestic crafts, but I found it often incomplete and the authorial voice was far too nostalgic for my taste.
May 4, 2025
As a fibre artists, general creator and history nerd I loved this book
October 22, 2009
I've always wondered about how people made things by hand, now that we're in an age where so much is made in factories by machines such that even the process of manufacturing nearly everything has become a mystery. This book addresses that problem.
The introduction to this book is nauseatingly dogmatic about how abominable and schlocky modern plastic products are compared to the noble handcrafted items made from natural materials. The author makes some good points--I get it--but the way he says it just turns me off from the whole concept of renewable materials! But once you get past that (or learn to just accept that it's there), it's interesting to learn how people used to do things.
I like how the book is not solely about what was traditionally men's work (workshops, fields, etc.), but it also includes how women took care of the home (how to make homemade soap, for example).
Many of the crafts give an overview of how things were made or done; very few give detailed explanations or step-by-step instructions. I find many of the descriptions difficult to visualize simply because I am so unfamiliar with the material. But there are many pictures of the tools used in each craft.
This book could be a useful reference tool for someone doing a period piece in just about any medium. That, or you could go to a living history museum and learn from the volunteers.
The introduction to this book is nauseatingly dogmatic about how abominable and schlocky modern plastic products are compared to the noble handcrafted items made from natural materials. The author makes some good points--I get it--but the way he says it just turns me off from the whole concept of renewable materials! But once you get past that (or learn to just accept that it's there), it's interesting to learn how people used to do things.
I like how the book is not solely about what was traditionally men's work (workshops, fields, etc.), but it also includes how women took care of the home (how to make homemade soap, for example).
Many of the crafts give an overview of how things were made or done; very few give detailed explanations or step-by-step instructions. I find many of the descriptions difficult to visualize simply because I am so unfamiliar with the material. But there are many pictures of the tools used in each craft.
This book could be a useful reference tool for someone doing a period piece in just about any medium. That, or you could go to a living history museum and learn from the volunteers.
January 2, 2015
I've known about this book for a while. My father has a copy of the "Forgotten Arts" version (basically the first half of this book)
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the first half - which covers all sorts of crafts such as coopering, charcoal-burning, hedge-laying and wheel-writing. The text is clear and easy to read - the subjects matter is always interesting and draws from John Seymour's own experience as well as that of many craftsmen that he has met.
However, while the book will give you an appreciation for many different crafts and trades - many of which are nearly forgotten - this book cannot claim to be of use as a "how-to" guide for any of these skills.
Nonetheless, it's a useful reference book and is an enjoyable read.
The second half of the book (also published separately as "Forgotten Crafts") is much more concerned with running a household and deals with spinning, weaving, needlework and a particularly good section on the history of heating, cooking and lighting equipment. However - generally it's probably of less interest than the first half of the book.
I imagine most people would be content to own a book like this as a reference work - rather than as a cover-to-cover read. But I'm glad to have read it through anyway.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the first half - which covers all sorts of crafts such as coopering, charcoal-burning, hedge-laying and wheel-writing. The text is clear and easy to read - the subjects matter is always interesting and draws from John Seymour's own experience as well as that of many craftsmen that he has met.
However, while the book will give you an appreciation for many different crafts and trades - many of which are nearly forgotten - this book cannot claim to be of use as a "how-to" guide for any of these skills.
Nonetheless, it's a useful reference book and is an enjoyable read.
The second half of the book (also published separately as "Forgotten Crafts") is much more concerned with running a household and deals with spinning, weaving, needlework and a particularly good section on the history of heating, cooking and lighting equipment. However - generally it's probably of less interest than the first half of the book.
I imagine most people would be content to own a book like this as a reference work - rather than as a cover-to-cover read. But I'm glad to have read it through anyway.
November 11, 2012
I found this book at my local library. While I agree with some online reviews I've read on it that there isn't enough information on the "how-to" aspect (which is what drew me in also and the reason I gave only 4 stars), it is an excellent book for those looking for a comprehensive overview of these lost skills. It covers a LOT of ground!
In a day where hand-making the things we need are generally long gone, in favor of the cheaper lower-quality crap that litters our stores today and keeps us lazy, a book like this is priceless and points the way toward looking up the areas we want to learn more about.
In a day where hand-making the things we need are generally long gone, in favor of the cheaper lower-quality crap that litters our stores today and keeps us lazy, a book like this is priceless and points the way toward looking up the areas we want to learn more about.
Read
August 8, 2014Pretty rad, except for Seymour's antiquated views on gender (ten points for thinking "women's work" is just as important as men's; minus ten points for thinking that plumbing should determine occupation in the first place). And to the title should be added "...of the UK" - these are the arts and crafts of temperate forested climes. I would love to see an equivalent volume about the folk skills of southeast Asia, or sub-Saharan Africa, or Arctic Canada.
That said, the top flap quote - "there is not a human skill that was ever developed that is not still practiced somewhere on this planet" - is what got my hopes up, and the rest of the book did not disappoint.
That said, the top flap quote - "there is not a human skill that was ever developed that is not still practiced somewhere on this planet" - is what got my hopes up, and the rest of the book did not disappoint.
October 26, 2019
This is a delightfully insightful and informative look at the many and varied crafts and skills that were once prevalent across the UK in the past and that are making a welcome come back. Seymour covers woodland crafts such as coppicing and charcoal making, buildng crafts, crafts of the field such as hedge laying, workshop crafts ranging from chair making to foundry work and blacksmithing and textle and home crafts. This isn't really a guide for starting or practising the crafts yourself but is simply an introduction to each one, telling of their history complete with various anecdotes from Seymour's experiences with each one and the people that practice them.
January 19, 2021
Este Manual práctico de vida autosuficiente nos enseña como sería vivir en el campo conservando todo lo que este nos produce, elaboración bebidas alcohólicas, queso, nata, mantequilla y hasta productos artesanales.
El irlandes John Seymour fue una influyente figura del movimiento de autosuficiencia. Su descripción exacta es difícil: era escritor, locutor, ecologista, minifundista y activista; un rebelde contra: el consumismo
El irlandes John Seymour fue una influyente figura del movimiento de autosuficiencia. Su descripción exacta es difícil: era escritor, locutor, ecologista, minifundista y activista; un rebelde contra: el consumismo
April 16, 2012
A sampler platter of arts and crafts that are near to dying out in the Western world. Some won't like Mr Seymour's smug, holier than thou attitude and commentary, but the pictures are interesting, and it sheds light on how things have changed in the scant century or so since industrialization became the norm on Earth. It's a quick read, with lots of pictures and a less than dense writing style.
February 10, 2015
The title should have "...of Great Britain" tacked on at the end. The author writes in a patronizing mixture of sexist, rose-glassed nostalgia for When Men Were Real Men, Women Were Real Women, And People Did Real Work, and some classic Noble-Savage tropes. The sole redeeming feature of this book is the lavish illustrations and diagrams of how things are done.
January 10, 2016
Why would one of the best boat builder, Harry King of Pinn Hill, ask for his work less then the average boat builder?
This book is more about the people doing the old, last crafts, then the crafts themselves. I bought it because of my interest to old and lost crafts but really liked it for the insight it provides into the life of the ones exercising this crafts.
This book is more about the people doing the old, last crafts, then the crafts themselves. I bought it because of my interest to old and lost crafts but really liked it for the insight it provides into the life of the ones exercising this crafts.
November 8, 2007
i pick this book up all the time and what bothers me the most about it is that few know how to do any of this any longer. Buy it, and make one of the things in it while you still have access to these so-called "old world" crafts. This book amazes me.
December 19, 2008
another one by John Seymour the godfather of sustainability, I scored this at an army surplus/gas station on tour this year, detailed instructions with great illustrations, it will make you want to build a fence with your bare hands
June 4, 2012
I love Seymour's books. Some are better than others. This one is great! Loved it. Excellent pictures and drawings of so many things I never knew existed. It is so interesting to see how we have changed doing things around the home and land over the last 100+ years.
August 29, 2008
It is an interesting book, but not at all what I thought it was going to be.
It tells the history of the craft instead of the how-to's.
It tells the history of the craft instead of the how-to's.
November 15, 2010
The book to take to start a new civilization, or to a desert island, or to pack in your bunker with your apocalypse-preparedness items.
August 8, 2017
completely fascinating, if overwhelming in its scope.
August 20, 2012
A fascinating companion volume to his Self Sufficiency book. With similar lovely illustrations of bygone methods of producing all sorts of items, lovely
January 23, 2013
I don't actually know how to do any of these things, but I like having it on my shelf.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews