Old Books v The Stanley #55

I ask you, what does an old book have in common with a Stanley #55? Or even a #444??

The answer is, drumroll please... lots. Sorry if that was a letdown in the excitement department. Hey, you made a choice in reading this blog post. I just write the stuff when the spirit moves me.

Lately I've been researching authors of 18th, 19th and early 20th century books on the trades. Mostly on woodworking, but also on leather, bookbinding, textiles, and even design. What surprises me most are the number of authors and titles that are never mentioned in our current crop of literature on trades, crafts and the use of tools. There are authors whose names pop up over and over again: Hasluck, Hodgson, Jones, to name a few. This short list got me to wonder'n... weren't there more authors, titles and publishers and what happened to them all? What happened to all the copies of the currently famous titles? Many were reprinted for anywhere from 20-50 years, some even longer.

They were used up. Bought, read, sullied with the grime of working hands, dipped in coffee or tea, marked with heelprints and generally abused as any working tool would be. When the hinges failed, the binding threads rotted out and the pages become fodder for the compost pile (where there compost piles in the 18th C? Or just pig troughs?), the books were tossed. Now how does this relate to the Stanley #55, #444? Use begats compost. Disuse begats a long shelf life.

I contend that many of the better books on trades and crafts of the past centuries have been used up past their life spans. Sure, the influx of acidic paper beginning in the mid 1800's introduced an auto-destruct cycle worthy of Dr. Strangelove. Yest I find that authors and titles that were in print for a good many years are now either rare or in such poor shape they barely qualify as books. Some authos, in my humble opinion, surpass the much bally-hooed works in reprint today. And that brings us back to the #55 and #444. Made a tool with all the bells and whistles, and what do you have? A possible member of the Hall of Hand Tool Infamy. And a tool that continues to be found in such a miraculous state of preservation to make the heart of any tool auctioneer swell with dollar signs.