
The David Russell collection brings together a stunning array of edge & boring tools from Britain continental Europe & North America & provides a broad survey of hand tool-making from prehistory to today. All the tools are illustrated with James Austins photographs & details & marks are shown where appropriate. Special attention is given to planes & the great British makers of the eighteenth & nineteenth centuries are discussed in depth. Since prehistoric times there has been a never-ending quest for better ways to cut & bore wood. Along the way this has produced a wide variety of hand tools & there are many where beauty & function meet. The book will appeal to a wide range of readers including collectors industrial archaeologists & social historians. The excellent photographs & descriptions do more than justice to one of the most outstanding collections I have ever seen." The late Roy Arnold"