Book 1,677 - Clocks: The Smithsonian Illustrated Library of Antiques

Description

Clocks: The Smithsonian Illustrated Library of Antiques
by Douglas H. Shaffer. Taking a novel approach to the subject,
Clocks
starts with a close study of one particular American clock, the pillar-and-scroll shelf clock developed by Eli Terry in Connecticut in the 1810s. The reader is then introduced to the ancestors and contemporaries of – and successors to – this important clock, among them the tall clocks of New England that predated the pillar-and-scroll clock by more than a hundred years, Simon Willard’s popular banjo wall clock, and the smaller and lighter clocks made possible by the introduction of springs in the late 1830s. The section on clocks from America concludes with the great period of exports – by 1865 American clocks were being shipped overseas. Clockmaking in Europe during the Renaissance, and in Holland, France, England, Japan and elsewhere is reviewed next. Finally, the chapter entitled “Time in a Pocket” deals with watchmaking in Europe beginning in the 1500s and in America after 1850. A chapter on collecting, a glossary of special terms, a list of further reading and a guide to public collections of clocks and watches, where priceless pieces can be seen, extend to the usefulness of this concise work. 128 pages. Hard cover with jacket. Copyright 1980. The jacket is in good condition. The rest of the book is in excellent condition. – Book 1,677