These are books that have helped me, been of interest, or are just a pleasure to read.
They cover tools, trades, crafts and allied/hybrid areas of interest. Quite a lot of the books are out of print,
so you may need to look in second hand bookshops, or search online for sources.
The order is fairly random, so do scroll through to the end.
Sean Hellman
Sharp
Crafty Little Press 2021
ISBN 978-0-9931861-7-2
Percy W. Blandford
Country Craft Tools
Swan Hill Press 1997
ISBN 1 85310 823 5
R. A. Salaman
Dictionary of Woodworking Tools
AstragalPress 1997
ISBN 1 879335 79 4
R. A. Salaman
Dictionary of Leather-working Tools
AstragalPress 1986
ISBN 1 879335 72 1
John M. Whelan
The Wooden Plane Its History, Form and Function
Astragal Press 1993
ISBN 9 781879 335325
Kenneth D. Roberts
Some 19th Centuary English Woodworking Tools
Ken Roberts
Publishing Co. Fitzwilliam N.H. 1980
ISBN 0 913602 68 X
Stanley/Ruskin Gallery
The Cutting Edge
Ruskin Gallery Sheffield 1992
ISBN 0 86321 163 1
W. L Goodman
British Plane Makers From 1700
Bell and Sons Ltd 1968
Jane Rees
Goodman's British Planemakers 4th Edition
Astragal Press 2020
Don & Anne wing
Early Planemakers of London
The Mechanick's Workbench 2005
Editor: Jane Rees
The Tool Chest of Benjamin Seaton 2nd Edition
The Tools and Trades History Society 2012
Peter Young
John Green 18th Century York Planemaker
Peter Young 2015
A Directory of Sheffield, Including the Manufacturers of the adjacent Villages 1787
The Tools and Trades History Society 2004
C. W. Hampton
Planecraft
C. & J. Hampton Ltd. 1934
Richard Filmer
Edward Elwell's Catalogue
Roy Arnold 2000
ISBN 0 904638 13 8
Jane and Mark Rees
Fussells of Mells
TATHS 2001
ISBN 0 947673 13 X
F. Lambert
Tools and Devices for Coppice Crafts
Young Farmers Club 1957
Elizabeth Agate
Tool Care
BTCV 1995
ISBN 0 946752 13 3
Philip Walker
Woodworking Tools
Shire 1980
ISBN 0 85263 501 X
Eric
Sloane
Museum of Early American
Tools
Ballentine Books
1974
SBN 345 23571 1
Phil Gault
Collector's Guide Early American Tools
L-W Promotions 1974
Philip Walker
The Victorian Catalogue of Tools for Trades and Crafts
Studio Editions 1994
ISBN 1 85891 120 6
Paul N. Hasluck
The Handyman's Book
Senate 1998
ISBN1 85891 254 7
D. Cook
The Ax Book
Hood 1999
ISBN 0-911469-16-8
Roy Underhill
The Woodwright's Shop
Chapel Hill 1981
ISBN 0-8078-4082-3
Roy Underhill
The Woodwrights Companion
Chapel Hill 1983
ISBN 0-8078- 4095-5
The Rev. W. D Parish
A Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect
Gardeners 1957
(good for local tool names)
Charles McRaven
The Blacksmith's Craft
Storey 2005
ISBN-10: 1-58017-593-7
Aldren A.Watson
The Blacksmith
Norton 2000
ISBN 0-393-32057-X
Jack Andrews
The Edge of the Anvil
Rodale Press
ISBN 0-87857-186-8
Alexander G Weygers
The Complete Modern Blacksmith
Ten Speed Press 1997
ISBN 0-89815-896-6
Karl-Gunnar Noren & Lars Enander
Swedish Blacksmithing
Nilsen & Noren Forlag2008
ISBN 978-91-975634-8-2
The Blacksmith'sCraft
Rural Industries Bureau 1952
K. L. Barraclough
Sheffield Steel
Moorland Publishing
Company 1976
ISBN 0903485 31 1
Iron and Steel Principles of Manufacture, Structure, Composition and Treatment
Machinery's refernce series number 36 1910
Scissors Sam
Scissors Sam says Be Sharp
Scrimshaw Press/Capricorn Press 1972
ISBN 0-912020-28-8
Gaius Carley
Memoirs of Gaius Carley
Moore & Tillyer 1963
H. L. Edlin
Woodland Crafts in Britain
Batsford 1949
H. L. Edlin
Forestry and Woodland Life
Batsford 1947
H. L. Edlin
Trees, Woods and Man
NN 32
Collins New Naturalist 1978
ISBN 0 00 219531 3
J. Geriant Jenkins&
Traditional Country Craftsmen
Routledge & Kegan Paul 1978
ISBN 0 7100 8726 8
J. E. Manners
Country Crafts Today
David and Charles
1978 ISBN 0 7153 6560 6
Dorothy Hartley
Made in England
Century 1978
ISBN 0 7126 1705 7
Dorothy Hartley
The Countryman's England
Batsford 1935
Freda Derrick
Country Craftsmen
Chapman & Hall 1945
James Arnold
Country Crafts
John Baker 1968
SBN 212 99821 8
James Arnold
All Made By Hand
John Baker 1970
SBN 213 98381 4
James Arnold
The Countryman's Workshop
Phoenix 1953
Edited by C. G. Hutchinson & F. Chapman
Village life and Labour
Cambridge at the University Press 1939
Devon Hedges
Devon Hedge Group and Devon County Council&
ISBN 978-1-84785-043-0
Valerie Greaves
Hedgelaying Explained
National Hedgelaying Society
ISBN 0 9511735 0 2
Walter Rose
The Village Carpenter
Cambridge 1946
George Sturt
The Wheelwright's Shop
Cambridge 1943
Mummery (et al)
A Guide to Techniques for Coppice Management
Woodland Craft Supplies 1998
ISBN 0 9529849 1 1
Mike Abbot
Green Woodwork
Guild of Master Craftsmen 1989
Mike Abbot
Living Wood
Living Wood Books 2002
ISBN 0 9542345 0 2
RayTabor
The Encyclopedia of Green Woodworking
eco-logic books 2000
ISBN 1 899233 07 5
Ivan G.
Sparkes
Woodland Craftsmen
Shire 1991
ISBN 0 85263 381 5
Howard I. Chapelle
Boatbuilding
Norton 1969
ISBN 0 -393-03113-6
K. Kilby
The Village Cooper
Shire 1998
ISBN 0 85263 392 0
Oliver Rackham
Woodlands
NN 100
Collins New Naturalist 2006
ISBN 0-00-720243-1
Oliver Rackham
Ancient Woodland
Castlepoint Press 2003
ISBN 1-897604-27-0
Peter Brandon
The Kent and Sussex Weald
Phillimore 2003
ISBN 1 86077 241 2
Freda Derrick
Country Craftsmen
Chapman & Hall 1945
Peter J. Neville Havins
The Forests of England
Readers Union 1976
Kay N. Sanecki
Old Garden Tools
Shire 1993
ISBN 0 85263 869 8
Graham Rose
The Traditional Garden Book
Dorling Kindersley 1982
ISBN 0 86318 373 5
Selsin (et al)
Garden Tools
Abbeville Press 1996>
ISBN 0 7892 0087 2
Alistair
Morris
Antiques from the Garden
Garden Art Press 1999
ISBN 1 870673 33 6
Michael
Partridge
Farm Tools through the Ages
Osprey 1973
SBN 85045 081 0
Roy Brigden
Agricultural Hand Tools
Shire 1983
ISBN 0 85263 630 X
H. J. Massingham
Country Relics
Cambridge 1939
ISBN 978 1 107 60070 6
© Ian Swain 2024