The Kaufmann Mercantile Guide: How to Split Wood, Shuck an Oyster, and Master Other Simple Pleasures

An information-packed visual field guide to what we ought to know how to do, and what we’d like to learn how to do, from the legendary craftsmanship-focused Kaufmann Mercantile brand.

From the founders of Kaufmann Mercantile, a bespoke curator of well-designed goods, comes this no-nonsense guidebook to living well. Building from a philosophy of slow living with a focus on functionality and quality, The Kaufmann Mercantile Guide is an accessible reference book for the utilitarian in all of us.

This comprehensive field guide to life shares Kaufmann Mercantile’s collective expertise on 48 helpful life skills that range from essential know-how--from frying an egg to tying a tie to brewing coffee perfectly--to aspirational expertise--like splitting wood, building a fire, or shucking an oyster.

Organized into five instructional sections, each prefaced by an expert, this handsome coffee table book includes original artwork that visually walks you through each ＂how-to＂ step. Browse these sumptuous pages to explore such topics as:

• Kitchen: How to care for cast-iron pans, preserve fresh herbs, and saber a Champagne bottle
• Outdoors: How to master basic knots, fix a flat bike tire, and forage for wild edibles
• Home: How to make natural cleaning products, stock a toolbox, and frame and hang art
• Gardening: How to grow a tomato, save a seed, and build a birdfeeder
• Grooming: How to sew a button and mend a hem, fold a pocket square, and organize a closet

Supplemental sidebars feature the best tool for the job, whether it’s top-quality rawhide-and-ash snowshoes, a dibber for planting, or flammable smoking bags for making authentic BBQ.

Amusing, instructive, and endlessly entertaining, this is a well-considered collection of how-to’s, perfect for anyone who wants to live a slow and thoughtful life or a gift for men or women who aspire to do so.

Sebastian Kaufmann is CEO and founder of the New York-based online retailer, Kaufmann Mercantile. Originally conceived as a blog, Sebastian’s strategic vision has led the company’s growth to a full-scale e-commerce brand, offering the finest made products from over 300 of the world’s best manufacturers in more than 20 countries. The company’s dedication to sourcing and selling ethically-made and hand-picked items carries across in its careful consideration and selection criteria, as well as its commitment to telling the stories of those who made them.

Prior to founding Kaufmann Mercantile, Sebastian co-founded music video and commercial film production company Draw Pictures, where he helmed the company as CEO. In addition, he founded feature film development company Six Neighborhood Films in 2003.