1
of
1
Keys
Their history and collection
Series: Shire Library
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Keys
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This book will appeal to readers interested in arts, culture, history, and design, as well as collectors and enthusiasts fascinated by the stories behind everyday objects.
The oldest keys known to exist date from around 4,000 BC in Ancient Egypt. These were simple wooden cylinders that were part of a mechanism to secure doors. By the time of the Roman Empire, metal keys were in common usage and had begun to adopt the recognizable pattern of keys today. This book tells the story of the key.
A look at the long history of the key and the various designs and types that have been employed over the ages.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
The oldest keys known to exist date from around 4,000 BC in Ancient Egypt. These were simple wooden cylinders that were part of a mechanism to secure doors. By the time of the Roman Empire, metal keys were in common usage and had begun to adopt the recognisable pattern of keys today.
Keys tells the complete story of the key, backed by numerous photos from all time periods.
Today, old keys are more than just security mechanisms. They are highly collectable artefacts that can either be artistically beautiful or coldly functional, but either way, they can help us unlock the secrets of the past.
Series: Shire Library
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Navigational Instruments
With over two-thirds of the globe covered by water, the ability to navigate safely and quickly across the oceans has been crucial throughout human history. As seafarers attempted longer and longer voyages from the sixteenth century onwards in search of profit and new lands, the tools of navigation became ever more sophisticated. The development of instruments over the last five...Paperback$2899Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Keys
The oldest keys known to exist date from around 4,000 BC in Ancient Egypt. These were simple wooden cylinders that were part of a mechanism to secure doors. By the time of the Roman Empire, metal keys were in common usage and had begun to adopt the recognisable pattern of keys today. Keys tells the complete story of the key,...Paperback$4499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Fashion in the 1960s
Perhaps more so than any other decade, the sixties had the broadest impact on the twentieth-century Western world. Across society, culture, and the arts, youth voices rose to prominence and had a significant influence on new trends. Mature polished elegance was replaced by young liveliness as the fashionable ideal. Although only the most daring young followers of fashion wore the...PaperbackSold Out -
Fashion in the 1970s
The 1970s was a decade of style contrasts: every extreme of fashion was met by an equally trendy opposite reaction. Ankle-length maxi skirts vied for attention with super-short hot-pants. Outfits in vibrant prints and obviously man-made fabrics contrasted with subtly-coloured ensembles in wool jerseys and silky crepes. Delicate floral cottons, hand-knits and hand-tooled leather came up against boldly synthetic and...PaperbackSold Out -
Victorian Pumping Stations
Victorian pumping stations are colourful cathedrals of utility. Their imposing and striking exteriors enclose highly decorative cast-iron frames, built to encage powerful steam engines. They are glorious buildings which display the Victorians’ architectural confidence and engineering skills. More than that, they represent a key part of the story of urban development and how our towns and cities were shaped in...PaperbackSold Out -
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Gypsies of Britain
Gypsies have been a part of the British and European social fabric for centuries and have faced prejudice and oppression for nearly as long, since at least the time of Henry VIII. Theirs is a peripatetic existence, dwelling in tents and in caravans and living often precariously at the edges of towns and villages, moving on in search of opportunities...PaperbackSold Out -
Steam Shovels
The steam shovel was the forerunner of all powered, single-bucket, 'dry land' excavators and was the first machine successfully to replace the hand shoveller in loading wagons on construction sites. Steam Shovels by Peter Manktelow explains the workings of the machine and its application to the tasks demanded of it.PaperbackSold Out -
Tracing Lost Railways
The drastic railway closures of the 1960s led to the slow decay and re-purposing of hundreds of miles of railway infrastructure. Though these buildings and apparatus are now ghosts of their former selves, countless clues to our railway heritage still remain in the form of embankments, cuttings, tunnels, converted or tumbledown wayside buildings, and old railway furniture such as signal...PaperbackSold Out -
Victorian and Edwardian Railway Travel
The railway was one of the main modes of long-distance travel for Victorian Britons, and its processes – checking the timetable, buying a ticket, taking a seat – were central to both the industry and leisure of the period. David Turner here tells the story of travelling by rail between 1830 and the First World War: the development of stations,...PaperbackSold Out -
Toy Trains
The 00 gauge train set was the ultimate ‘boy’s toy’ of the 1950s and ’60s. Electric 00 gauge trains were introduced by Trix and Hornby Dublo in the mid-1930s, but the Second World War quickly halted production. However, they burst back onto the post-war scene with great success, and 00 quickly became the dominant scale in Britain, and was taken...PaperbackSold Out -
Coopers and Coopering
Coopers and Coopering by Ken Kilby seeks to preserve the memory of the cooper's skills, tracing the history of the craft and describing and illustrating how a barrel was made.PaperbackSold Out
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780747804222
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 30 April 2009
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Shire Publications
Illustration: 52 b/w
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 5.0mm
Width: 149.0mm
Height: 210.0mm
Weight: 190g
Pages: 72
About the Author
Following service with the Royal Air Force in the Second World War, Eric Monk joined the building industry, initially as an architectural draughtsman, then as a designer of specialised building products and subsequently in technical sales in the industry. He has now returned to his first interest the drawing board and works as a freelance illustrator, mainly of architectural subjects. A founder member of the Society of Architectural Illustration, he operates from his home in the delightful Cotswold village of Minchinhampton, where he enjoys recording with his pen the stone buildings of the area.
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