Chapters cover Jacobean and William and Mary styles, Queen Anne, Chippendale, Classical Period, and Early Victorian furniture. Miss Comstock gives the historical background of each period and style, describes the known craftsmen, and illustrates each innovation in design. Photographs include famous and less well-known examples representing the height of American achievement in furniture making. Every piece illustrated is described in full with its history, style, region, the kind of wood used, and probable date. The book features over 700 illustrations of individual pieces of furniture and whole rooms from houses of noted collectors and from "house museums" showing authentic settings in which these pieces were used. Readers will also be delighted with the photographs which show details of carvings and turnings and with the paintings of the period which depict modes of dress, frequently an influencing factor on furniture design.