Keys - Their History and Collections
Keys - Their History and Collections by Eric Monk.
Soft back, 72 pages, Illustrated B&W, 15cm x 21cm
The Romans brought locks and keys to Britain. This book continues their story up to modern times and will enable you to date your keys and identify fragments of many different types of lock.
Keys - Their History and Collections contents:
- From latch to lock and key
- Warded locks and elaborate keys
- Innovations versus the lock picker
- The trade and the collector
- Collection costs
- Comparative sizes of keys
- Further reading
- Places to visit
On the back cover:
Down the ages, from the boulder at the cave mouth to the elaborate security systems of a modern bank, the need to safeguard his possessions has occupied man's mind and taxed his inventiveness. The means by which he has achieved this, both simple and devious, are the subject of this book. To those who are intrigued by the combination of superb craftsmanship, mechanical ingenuity and artistry, such is as found antique firearms and clocks, locks and keys will have an equal fascination. Keys are the most collectable owing to their convenient size, decorative appearance and the facility with which they can be formed into attractive groupings; and in addition to the wider appeal and general interest in them, it is to the key collector that this work will be of special value.
Following service with the RAF in the second world war, Eric Monk joined the building industry, initially as an architectural draughtsman, then as a designer of specialised building products and subsequently in technical sales in the industry. He has now returned to his first interest - the drawing board - and works as a freelance illustrator, mainly of architectural subjects. A founder member of the society of Architectural illustration, he operates from his home in the delightful Cotswold village of Minchinhampton where he enjoys recording with his pen the stone buildings of the area.
