Tools Teach: An Iconography of American Hand Tools

Volume 13 in the Hand Tools in History series explores the iconography (imagery) of early American hand tools as they evolve into the Industrial Revolution's increased diversity of tool forms. The hand tools illustrated in this volume were selected from the Davistown Museum collection, most of which are cataloged in An Archaeology of Tools (Volume 9 in Hand Tools in History), and from those acquired and often sold by Liberty Tool Company and affiliated stores, collected during 40+ years of "tool picking." Also included are important tools from the private collections of Liberty Tool Company customers and Davistown Museum supporters. Beginning with tools as simple machines, reviews are provided of the metallurgy and tools used by the multitasking blacksmith, shipsmith, and other early American artisans of the Wooden Age. The development of machine-made tools and the wide variety of tool forms that characterize the American factory system of tool production are also explored. The text includes over 800 photographs and illustrations and an appendix of the tool forms depicted in Diderot's Encyclopedia. This survey provides a guide to the hand tools and trades that played a key role in America's industrial renaissance. The iconography of American hand tools narrates the story of a cascading series of Industrial Revolutions that culminate in the Age of Information Technology.

Author: Sett Balise, H. G. Brack
Publisher: Pennywheel Press
Published: 07/13/2013
Pages: 266
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.18lbs
Size: 10.00h x 8.00w x 0.56d
ISBN13: 9780982995181
ISBN10: 0982995180
BISAC Categories:
- Science | History

About the Author
H. G. "Skip" Brack is the founder and curator of the Davistown Museum and proprietor of and buyer for the Jonesport Wood Company, which deals in antique and used tools and includes the famed Liberty Tool Company in Liberty, Maine. Artifacts and information that Brack encountered on his tool buying expeditions in the attics, cellars, and workshops of coastal New England piqued his curiosity, raising questions about its early inhabitants and the tools they used. When he discovered that the information he sought to answer his questions was sketchy, inaccurate, or undocumented, Brack sought and scoured primary and secondary sources on the history of early coastal New England, focusing on the origins and composition of tools used by early New Englanders and New England First Nation communities. His publications include the Davistown Museum seven volume Hand Tools in History series, Norumbega Reconsidered: Mawooshen and the Wawenoc Diaspora, and much of the text on the information-rich museum website www.davistownmuseum.org. Brack holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts and M.A. from the University of Colorado. His knowledge of early tools and Maine/New England maritime history makes him a sought after lecturer and consultant. Brack, the museum, and his tool stores have been featured in Yankee, Downeast, and Bangor Metro magazines, the Boston Globe, an Associated Press article that appeared world-wide, Maine Public Broadcasting Network's Maine Experience, and the Martha Stewart television show. He lives and works in Bar Harbor and Liberty, Maine, with his wife, Judith Bradshaw Brown.

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