Welcome to October's newsletter. New this month is a booklet by David Penney about Explorer's Watches which were designed to be dustproof and waterproof. We also have news that the new book on Northamptonshire clock and watchmakers will probably be published in January 2026.

Also this month we have our usual offering, detailing some of the many books currently in stock which may be of interest.

Explorers' Watches: Makers and Variations
David Penney

NEW. Waterproof watches, the cases screwed together and fitted with a cover over the winding crown, were first patented in 1872. The Royal Geographical Society purchased these waterproof watches, made by Usher & Cole and Nicole Neilson, for issue to explorers. The book gives a historical introduction to the watches followed by a detailed look at seven pocket watch examples and one wristwatch example. The latter of Swiss manufacture. Card covers.

24 pages, well illustrated, 2025.

£15.00 Order Here

Northamptonshire Clock & Watchmakers
inc. the Soke of Peterborough
Tim Mashall

NEW. A new book about this English county with details of over 600 clock and watchmakers associated with the craft from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. Over 600 illustrations show clocks, watches and turret clocks with information about their makers and descriptions of the items. ['Soke' is a very old English administrative area, similar to a county. The Soke of Peterborough continued until 1965 when it was abolished and the administration merged with Huntingdonshire].

More Information

Some of the books currently in stock:

Wilbourn (A.S.H.) & Ellis (R.):
Lincolnshire Clock, Watch and Barometer Makers
O/P. £30.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Good (R.): Victorian Clocks
O/P. £25.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Barraud (E.M.): Barraud, The Story of a Family
O/P. £55.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Craven (M.):
John Whitehurst: Innovator, Scientist, Geologist and Clockmaker
NEW. £30.00 Order Here * Three copies only *

Dekker (E.) & Krogt (P. van der): Globes from the Western World
O/P. £45.00 Order Here * Two copies only *

Gatty (A.): The Book of Sun-Dials. Collected by Mrs Alfred Gatty(1st ed., 1872)
O/P. £95.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Watches in the Ashmolean Museum
David Thompson

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has one of the most important collections of watches outside of the national collections in London. This book illustrates and fully describes 31 pocket watches which show the history and development of watch design and decoration, with examples of the art of the goldsmith, engraver, chaser, enameller and lapidary from the mid-16th to the mid-19th century. A fine copy.

92 pages, illustrated in colour, 2007.

O/P £8.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Hampel (H.): Automatic Wristwatches from Switzerland
O/P. £35.00 Order Here * Two copies only *

Gouk (P.): The Ivory Sundials of Nuremberg 1500 - 1700
O/P. £15.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Ward (R.A.H.):
A Watchmaker's Pocket Book (Richard Wright, Great Sankey, Lancashire)
O/P. £15.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Rees (A.): The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature (5 volumes)
O/P. £175.00 less 10% Order Here * One copy only *

Shenton (A.) & Shenton (R.):
Collectable Clocks 1840 - 1940 Reference and Price Guide
O/P. £40.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Middleton (W.E. K.): The History of the Barometer
O/P. £15.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Snell (M.):
Clocks and Clockmakers of Salisbury - 600 Years of Skill and Invention
O/P. £35.00 Order Here * Two copies only *

Clockmakers & Watchmakers of Derbyshire
Roy G. Hughes & Maxwell Craven

O/P. A very useful contribution to information about regional clocks and clockmakers. A fine copy with very good dust jacket. This book is now out of print and becoming hard to find.

256 pages, illustrared, 1998.

£50.00 Order Here * Two copies only *

Otto (H.): The First Lever Watch with Free Balance Invented and Made by Thomas Mudge
O/P. £20.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Touchet (P.): A Practical Manual of Electric and Electronic Horology
O/P. £20.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Ferriday (P.): Lord Grimthorpe 1816 - 1905
O/P. £15.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Heurck (H. van): The Microscope: Its Construction and management. Including Technique, Photo-Micrography, and the Past and Future of the Microscope
O/P. £35.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Science Museum: Time Measurement (1937)
O/P. £10.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Deutsche und Niederländische Astronomische Instrumente des 11 .- 18. Jahrhunderts
Ernst Zinner

O/P. German and Dutch scientific instruments from the 11th to the 18th century including astrolabes, sundials, clocks and mechanical globes. The second half of the book is devoted to biographical details of the instrument makers. A very good copy with good dust jacket. [German language]

689 pages, 13 figures, 80 plates, 2nd edition, reprinted 1972.

£95.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Streeter (Edward W.): Catalogue of Designs, and Prices, of ...
O/P. £10.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Asprey: Exhibition of Marine Chronometers May 1979
O/P. £10.00 Order Here * Two copies only *

Seibel (E.) & Hagans (O.R.): Complicated Watches
O/P. £15.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Lloyd (H.A.): Some Notes on Very Early English Equation Clocks
O/P. £5.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Goodison (N.): Ormolu: The Work of Matthew Boulton
O/P. £35.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Penman (L.): The Clock Repairer's Handbook

O/P. £20.00 Order Here * Two copies only *

General Bibliography of Time Measurement
Tardy

O/P. Baillie's bibliography of clock and watch books is only for publications pre-1800 and excludes books on dialling; this book includes works published before 1945 including books on dialling. An essential reference book for horological book lovers and researchers. This book is now hard to find. Very good copy, card covers.

423 pages, 2nd edition, 1980.

£35.00 Order Here * Three copies only *

Penfold (J.B.): The Clockmakers of Cumberland
O/P. £195.00 less 10% Order Here * Two copies only *

Loomes (B.): Grandfather Clocks and their Cases
O/P. £70.00 Order Here * Two copies only *

Benjamin Allen & Co.: Illustrated Catalogue 1917 (Timepiece Section)
O/P. £5.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Cloutman (E.W.) & Linnard (W.): Henry Williams Lancarvan - 'A Clock and Watchmaker and a Great Farmer'
O/P. £45.00 Order Here * One copy only *

Darwin (J.): The Triumphs of Big Ben
O/P. £15.00 Order Here * One copy only *

That's all for this month but, as always, if there are any specific books you are looking for please send us an email - jeff@formby-clocks.co.uk - and we will do our best to find them for you.

With best wishes, Jeff & Ros Formby

Jeffrey Formby Antiques
Specialist in Horological Books & English Clocks
www.formby-clocks.co.uk
Phone UK: (0) 1608 650558