As a Writer/Editor/Publisher, one of my areas of interest is traditional blacksmithing and metalwork. There were some great books published on this subject, but with the decline of the general blacksmith's trade in the forties and fifties, most of these books disappeared. Now they are occasionally found at rare book dealers, sometimes at rather extreme prices.
I've been collecting old blacksmithing books for awhile now, and occasionally have found some real gems. The information in these old books is too good to let it turn to dust, so I scan them, convert the text, scan the illustrations, and republish them as electronic versions. To help pay for my "hobby," I'm offering them for sale here.
All these books are in PDF format and require Acrobat Reader, which is a free download from Adobe Systems. CDs are formatted to open in either Mac or Windows computers. If you happen to get a disk that won't open, I'll gladly replace it.
NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: I've finally graduated from the stone age and retired my dialup connection, so my email address has changed to hammerguy at bellsouth dot net. I believe I've fixed the Paypal shopping links, but if it doesn't work, send me an email.
PRICE REDUCTION: To make things a little easier, I've decided to reduce the prices. All titles are now just $4 each. Price includes US shipping. International orders do not include shipping, tax or applicable import duties. Note that "The Big Tamale" is still the same price $24 but it now contains EIGHT early blacksmithing books. Please be aware that a pricing revision is will soon be necessary in order to continue producing these books. What will probably happen is that I'll be starting on an altogether new CD, keeping "The Big Tamale" as is at $24. Remember, this disk contains about $450 worth of rare books... if you could find copies of the originals. (I cannot afford to add any more volumes without increasing the price, though, so order now!)
LINKS: If you enjoy blacksmithing, or just want to find out more, here are some LINKS
If you buy one or more of these e-books please send me an email and let me know what you think of them. I'd like to know how the readers are using the end product. For example, lately I've tried to keep the resolution high and optimize the PDF for printing, so that you can print your own hardcopies of illustrations if you want them. Some of the earlier books are at screen resolution only, and don't make great prints. Does it matter to you? Would you rather see accurate reproductions of each page, like a JPEG shot of an entire page... or would you rather read a close approximation that has been OCR processed? Send me an email: hammerguy at bellsouth.net.
I'm putting the finishing touches on J. Starkie Gardner's Ironwork, Part 1: From The Earliest Times to the End of the Mediaeval Period, published in 1914. This will be a great book for the historian and blacksmith, and includes a large number of illustrations. This, along with some other rare titles, will become the foundation for a second compilation CD of early blacksmithing and metalworking books. And to celebrate, I went online and spent a bunch of money on some new books... I've ordered Volume 2 and 3 of J. Starkie Gardners Ironwork books, so hopefully we'll be able to have the complete 3-volume series on one CD. I also found a 1908 copy of Spanish Ironwork by Arthur Byne & Mildred Stapley, Hopefully these will come in shortly, and be good copies to scan.
BLACKSMITHING BOOKS FOR FREE! The Countryside Agency in the UK has recently posted all of their blacksmithing publications on-line for a free download. They were great books, but kind of pricey in hardback form... the electronic version prices can't be beat! These include:
Download them here.
There are a few other books available on Dave Mudge's LAmetalsmiths.org website.
BLACKSMITHING BOOKS FOR SALE
La Fidelle ouverture de l'art du Serrurier by Mathurin Jousse (1874/1627), and Wiener Kunstschmeidearbeiten im Modernen Stil, original works by architect N.W Hoffman, are now available. Thanks to a generous loan from the National Ornamental Metal Museum, two more very rare titles will soon be available for the first time in electronic form. These are Hierros Artisticos por Luis Labarta(1901), and Ferronnerie Ancienne by d'Allemagne(1926), All these books are rarely sold, and when they are, very expensive. I'm deeply indebted to Jim Wallace, the museum's director, for making these titles available to me.
Attempts to document rare books using my digital camera have shown mixed results. I've had issues with consistent focus and exposure, and I do not feel comfortable offering these books for sale until these problems are resolved. I'm hoping to offer another volume of eight books soon, though free time to work on these projects has not been easy to find. I still hope to have a second disk available soon, though... it will be another eight titles for about the same price. News on developments will be posted here.
BOOKS STILL TO COME: I've also got American Blacksmithing Toolsmith and Steelworkers Manual by Holmstrom & Holford (1913) , J Starkie Gardner's English Ironwork of the 17th and 18th Centuries (No copyright date, but the preface is dated 1911), and Die Schmiedekunst Seit Dem Ende der Renaissance, by Aldof Bruning (no copyright date, in German only) in my collection. These two books will be excellent additions to your library, once I get them scanned and corrected. Parts of American Blacksmithing were reprinted years ago, but this copy has more technical blacksmithing information.
STILL WANTED: I'm looking for some old copies of The Blacksmith and Wheelwright magazine from the late 1800's, but I can't find any for sale. If anyone has some that they'd like to loan or sell, please send me an email. My address is hammerguy at mindspring dot com. And I'm always interested in old, rare blacksmithing titles that are in the public domain... that means published BEFORE 1928. If you have any that you'd like to sell, contact me. I prefer books that are in POOR to GOOD condition, because the scanning process is hard on the bindings.
NOTE TO THOSE ORDERING SINGLE BOOKS- Your best buy is to order all eight books on a single disk (See "The Big Tamale" below,) but if you'd like just one book on CD, I can do that, too. The cost of each title is $4, plus .97 postage to US addresses. (INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS, POSTAGE WILL BE HIGHER... PLEASE EMAIL ME FIRST) The PayPal buttons are set up for single copies, but if you'd like more than one, email me... PayPal will charge you 4.97 for each title, but if you email me, I can set up a custom CD order that will only charge you once for the postage, and $4 each for the books on the CD. The exception would be, of course, if you want each book on a seperate disk, then use the PayPal buttons to order.
La Fidelle Ouverture de Art du Serrurier. (A True Overview of the Art of the Metalworker) . Edited by Mathurin Jousse. 1874 edition of a collection of woodcuts first published in 1627. A collection of 28 plates, mostly illustrating highly detailed keys and escutcheons, but also includes some other images, such as hanging brackets, a wellhead, and an early mechanical wheelchair. The original volume was plates only, but this edition includes three pages of commentary. In French.
An extremely rare volume that is impossible to find in any other form. Made possible with the generous help of the National Ornamental Metal Museum. $4, plus.97 postage in the US.
Weiner Kunstschmiedearbeiten Im Modernen Stil. (Weiner- Art Smithing in the Modern Style) . The original book is a folio of 24 loose plates held by board covers. The cover translates, I think, "original draft of architect N W Hofmann, director of the Fitter technical school and the professor at the technological trade museum in Vienna." In German.
The plates and cover are undated, but appear to have been published around 1920. Few copies of this book exist, as most have been separated and sold as individual illustrations.
As this was an extremely rare book, a Xerox copy was made which was used for these scans. For this reason, black and white scans were used rather than color. The sizes were reduced slightly; the original pages were approximately 13 inches tall. Made available thanks to the help of the National Ornamental Metal Museum $4 plus.97 postage in the US,
The Management Of Steel, Including Forging, Hardening, Tempering, Annealing, Shrinking, And Expansion. Also The Case-Hardening Of Iron by George Ede, originally published by Appleton in New York, 1864. 41 pages, no illustrations. In English. A small book(12mo, 7 1/8 x 4 1/2) Primarily advice to blacksmiths concerning the handling of higher-carbon plain steels in a time where wrought iron was the norm. The copy I used to scan was very fragile- I cracked two pages just opening it to scan- so I believe this is a fairly rare title. A PDF sample can be seen HERE. $4 plus.97 postage in the US.
Franz Sales Meyer's "A Handbook of Art Smithing. In English, third edition, published in 1896, with an introduction by J Starkie Gardner. 214 Illustrations, 207 pages. An excellent general overview of historical ironwork from the turn of the century. Illustrates tooling, styles, designs, and execution of a huge number of items, including grilles, fanlights, locks, armor, repousse, sign brackets, hingework, etc. To download a five-page PDF sample from this book, click HERE. Or, download the table of contents by clicking HERE.$4 plus.97 postage in the US.
Spanish Wrought-Iron Screens -The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, Volume 6, Number 3, March 1900. In English. A complete reprint of an early periodical for architects and draftsmen. The primary paper is on Spanish liturgical screens. Fairly brief, the total size is 28 pages, including a brief paper on 12th century capitals and numerous advertisements, all reproduced as a complete facsimile. Download a two-page sample HERE. $4 plus.97 postage in the US
Patternbook for Metalsmiths by Harald Nielsen. In Danish, according to reader Johan in Sweden, but there's not much text. It consists mostly of measured drawings of various iron objects, like fanlights, railings, gates, weathervanes, hinges and sign brackets. 51 pages, published in 1926. Also included are three pages from an earlier patternbook marked "F Moser," all were found unbound in the same lot. Very rare and unusual, made available here with the help of my good friend and pen pal, Gunner Jorgensen. To download a one-page sample, click HERE. $4 plus.97 postage in the US
Forgework by William Ilgen. Expanded edition of the 1912 original, with additional editorial notes by Brian Gilbert. In English. Includes additional information about mechanical hammers, guillotine tools, etc. Originally a textbook for industrial blacksmithing courses, this book contains a large amount of how-to instruction, and includes information on the obsolete practice of hand-forging tools for the lathe. To download a five-page sample, click HERE. Or download the table of contents by clicking HERE.138 pages. $4 plus.97 postage in the US.
The Polishing and Plating of Metals, by Herbert J Hawkins. In English. A manual for electroplating using turn-of-the-century industrial processes and methods. Includes information on acid dips, plating solutions, buffing and finishing processes, etc. Download a five-page sample by clicking HERE, $4 plus.97 postage in the US.
THE BIG TAMALE- All EIGHT titles on a single CD, commercially duplicated and sent postpaid to US addresses for $24 (International orders must pay additional postage for 2 oz large envelope first-class rate)
TN residents must add 9.25% sales tax
If you have any questions about these or other publications, please send me an email at:
hammerguy at bellsouth.net
Thanks Very Much!