Book List | Rocky Mountain Smiths

The first thing that catches your eye on opening the book is a beautiful color painting commissioned for the book called "The last anvil makers"; by Nathan Green. The book starts with your usual anvil basics illustrated by dozens of photos by the author (which; by the way; were well taken and reproduced with skill). Postman then goes on with a history of anvils and reproductions of hundreds of original anvil ads and fliers illustrated by even MORE of Postman's photos. He also reproduces important historical patents and patents for strange oddball anvil "systems" that may or may (more likely) not have been manufactured. There are numerous lists of makers marks and anvil stories collected by the author. The book also includes all kinds of anvil miscellany. Ads and trademarks using anvils; miniature advertising anvils and the hilarious Christmas card images created by Gill Fahrenwald; "Caught in a shower of anvils" and "Roasting marshmallows over an open anvil" There is also a smattering of vise; swage block and other forging/blacksmithing tools and equipment shown. This book description was excerpted from a review by David Poppke at Anvilfire.com. Please click on the link below to see the review in its entirety.

Anvils - History; Blacksmithing - History; Forging - History; Tools - history

Publisher Postma Pub. 1998. 552 pages

Between approximately 1800 and 1860 Mousehole Forge of Sheffield; England was the premier anvil maker of the world. Even after about 1860 when other English anvil makers; such as Joshua Wilkinson & Sons as well as numerous others were producing anvils by more modern methods and machinery; still Mousehole Forge retained a major share of the market; especially in America; continuing right into the 20th century. By that time there were only three manufacturers shipping anvils to the U.S. As far as I can tell Mousehole Forge outlasted every other anvil maker in England except Peter Wright & Sons. How could a small manufacturer restricted to about an acre of land with a forge shop having just 9;000 square feet; using primarily water power to drive their antiquated helve hammers and other equipment; compete so successfully? This is the story of this small company and their anvils.

Anvils - History; Forge shops - History; Forging - History

Publisher Postma Pub. 2003. 110 pages