Bob Frishman
Exhibit viewers may note that just one of my five items is a book. Books about timekeeping are important—I own 900-plus books on the subject—but related pieces of old ephemera are equally magnetic. Nineteenth-century unbound paper artifacts such as watch papers, cartes de visite, warranty slips, and original patent drawings have great visual appeal and convey important information.
When my passion for horology was sparked in 1980, I immediately began seeking books and papers that would underpin my collecting and my skills as a repairer and restorer. Many past horologists and horology collectors have been eager to write and publish, to the great benefit of focused readers like me.
My love of books nearly matches my love of timepieces, so the urge to collect and study in both categories was ideal. Texts and graphics about something we love certainly motivates most of my fellow Grolierites. And given the space and money limitations we all face, I can own lots more books and papers than clocks.
L.E. (Luther Elliott) Jerome. Clock Case Patent Drawing. Washington, D.C.: United States Patent Office, September 14, 1886.
The youngest son of famous Connecticut clock inventor and manufacturer Chauncey Jerome (1793-1868), L.E. Jerome (1841-1904) assigned his five patents to the New Haven Clock Company that was run by his relatives. This design in the form of a parade lantern was twice rejected before the patent was issued. Put into production, it cost $12 in the firm’s 1889 catalogue. The antique-brass case was decorated with perforations, jewels and a five-inch ‘opal’ dial. Price in antique silver was $13.
Charles Stratton. Receipt for Sale of Clock. Holden, MA: 1837.
This is a rare example of small paper warranty receipts that accompanied the sale of wood-movement weight-driven factory-made Connecticut shelf clocks marketed by itinerant peddlers. Stratton (1809-1854) clocks have inside paper labels showing manufacture dates and his locations in Holden and Worcester, Massachusetts. His business failed in 1845 and he relocated to Hartford, Connecticut.
B. (Benjamin) Balch & Son. Watch Paper. Salem, MA: 1837.
Printed, decorative, and informative thin paper disks often were pressed inside the backs of pocket-watch cases to remind owners about who sold and repaired their timepieces. Benjamin (1774-1860) was one of several Balch family members in the trade. His son James joined him in 1832. This rare paper’s reverse side has a handwritten date of Nov. 26, 1837, probably when father or son repaired the watch.
Mathew Brady. Nine Cartes de Visite with Mantel Clock. New York: c.1860-1865.
Mathew Brady (1822-1896) was the most famous American photographer of his time. Of several thousand Brady photographic portraits, approximately seventy were found showing his cast-metal figural mantel-clock studio prop. The “Reaper” model was designed and cast by the city’s Nicholas Muller. Celebrities pictured with the clock included George Custer, Robert E. Lee, and Clara Barton. The man at the bottom right was Treasury Secretary and Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase (1808-1873).
Antoine Thiout l’aîné. Traité de L’Horlogerie Méchanique et Pratique (Tome Premier). Paris: Charles Moette, 1741.
From my horological book collection, I selected the first volume of this early and widely read eighteenth-century treatise on clockmaking. Many fold-out engraved plates describe movements, escapements, and the sophisticated tools needed to create them. The books are dedicated to “Le Duc D’Orleans, Premier Prince Du Sang.” Planche 29 shows components of an ingenious machine designed by Pierre Fardoil (d.1722), Parisian Huguenot horologist and machinist later in London.