Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice older book in good condition. Some tanning and marking due to age. Limited edition 1000 copies. Year 1964. Hardcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> It is hoped that my own modest effort will have served a useful purpose if it does little else than encourage others to delve into the past. The necessity of mentioning the name of Thomas Tompion so often in this book and the strong tie-up between his early work and that of Joseph Knibb leaves me with the conviction that Tompion worked with Joseph during the period 1671-73- There is no mention of this in any records but a study of the earliest Tompion movements and cases is very revealing. This probable ‘flirtation’ was short-lived as Tompion was an individualist and of differing make-up from that of Joseph. In conversation the most experienced clock collectors refer to the plates of Knibb movements as ‘beautifully thin’ and when referring to Tompion’s plates they are invariably beautifully thick’ an anomaly which I find most acceptable as I have always regarded the Knibb family’s work as ‘the female of the species. Whereas Tompion when fully established was a horologist in the grand manner the Knibb family were artists at heart making clock work which can be admired beyond its functional purpose and contained in cases equally subtle in design. This difference in approach to one entity is one justification for recording the clocks of the Knibb family hoping that those who appreciate 17th-century clocks may find some interest in the individuality of this group of craftsmen. (MP)