Collecting knife books: What are the Must-Have and Must-Read?

golok

golok

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
Messages
4,453

Presently, I am trying to get my hands on some knife books which some seasoned knife collectors would feel that a collector must read or must have.

In the process, I hope to build up a small but nice collection of books on knives which I will be able to go back to time and again for reference or for research purposes.

I am sure there are many out there who have read some of the finest books on the matter. These are the people whom I now turn to for advice on the matter, that is, books on knives or books on knife-collecting.

Gus Kalanzis has mentioned some great titles recently in the Custom Knives forum. I have taken note of those. Thanks Gus.

I have also noted that among the four Gus mentioned, two are out of print or hard-to-find.

What are some of the other really great books on knives?


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Make Love your strongest weapon. Compassion your shield and forgiveness your armour.
 
Golok,
I would suggest the following:

1. Levine's Guide To Knives (4th edition)
2. The IBCA's rice Guide To Commemorative Knives (1960-1990) by J.Bruce Voyles
3. The American Premium Guide To Knives & Razors (5th edition) by Jim Sargent.
4. Knives 2001 (21st Annual edition) by Joe Kertzman.

Happing hunting!!

--The Raptor--
 
This topic has been in the forums before. Some of my favorites are: The entire Knives Annuals series (from 1981), the Gun Digest Book of Knives series, Jim Weyer's picture book series - "Knives: Points of Interest," Master of the Forge - about Bill Moran, Bill Clausen's book on Sheffield exhibition knives, Hear the Hammer - about Rudy Ruana, Knife Talk by Ed Fowler, Living on the Edge - about Loveless, and Best of Knife World in 3 volumes. There are plenty more, but that should keep you busy for a while. There are many websites that sell out of print books.

[This message has been edited by yitz (edited 02-18-2001).]
 
You should also check out The Working Folding Knife by Steven Dick.

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"I'm out there Jerry, and I'm lovin' every minute of it!"--Kramer
 
Some others,
Goins encylopedia of Cutlery Markings.
Modern Handmade knives B.R. Hughes.
Official Price Guide to Collectors Knives. C. Houston Price.
James Bowie and the Sandbar Fight James l. Batson.
The Antique Bowie Knife Book. (great but rare and pricey)
Moran 50 Years Anniversary Knives - The Complete History Of their Making. Dominique Beaucant.
The Complete Book of Pocket Knife Repair. Ben Kelly Jr.
Anything by Bernard Levin.
How to make Folding knives - A step by Step Guide. Ron Lake Farnk Centofante and Wayne Clay. There is another one co-authored by Eugene Shadley.


The Sheffield Knife Book. Geoffrey Tweedale.
(Several books on Sheffield knives out there)
Soloman, Yitz and Raptor named most of my very favorites.

A great start can be going to your favorite net bookseller and using knives or knife in their search engine or some of these authors that have been mentioned.


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" The real art of living is to keep alive the longing in human beings to become greater versions of themselves." Laurens Van der Post in memory of James Mattis

[This message has been edited by Gus Kalanzis (edited 02-18-2001).]
 
My all time favorites are Jim Weyers points of interest books. (a must for custom collectors) and the Moran Books. Take a look at Master of the forge and we wont be having to address comments like Morans knives are ugly P.O.S.'s. (sorry but that was one of the most ridiculous statements I have seen on the net).

Anything written by B.R. Hughes will be insightful. I still find myself refering to some of his work that was written in the early 70's.

For factory stuff. Bernard Levin's books are very important. The price guides by Roy Ritchie, Ron Stewart, Jim Sargent and Huston Price are helpful too. Jim Parker has some guides out too.

The How To books give me an appreciation of what makers have to go through, but nothing beats attending a hammer in or demonstration along those lines.

Any Book by Bill Adams would be great to also. (Antique Bowie Knife Book, and I think he contributed to a recent Sheffield book too.)

Major auction books. Check with Butterfield and Butterfield (The most recent one I know about was the Bill Williamson Collection). Bruce Voyles Auction Catalogs and his books would also be great refs.

The Knife World best of's are great. Vol 1 and 2 are tough ones to find.

The Knife Annuals are must haves and can be found very reasonably.

Gun Digest book of knives volumes can be found too. Not sure if they are still producing these older annuals.

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" The real art of living is to keep alive the longing in human beings to become greater versions of themselves." Laurens Van der Post in memory of James Mattis
 
Gus,

Where to find the Knives Points of Interest series? Amazon.com just sent me a notice that they are really hard to find and may not be available from them. Are there any dealers/bookstores that you know of who may have these sorts of specialty books. The material supply houses such as Koval and Texas Knifemakers Supply have only a limited selection of collector books.

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Peter Atwood

email: fountainman@hotmail.com
 
Here are the three best Used book web sites (much better than Amazons book finding). All three of these take inventories from individual booksellers and list the books for them. The first (Alibris) will actually make all the arrangements for you and take your money and get the book sent to you. The next two will give you the contact information for the seller, and you make your own arrangements for payment and shipping.

1. www.alibris.com

2. www.bibliofind.com

3. www.abebooks.com

Happy searching!

Paracelsus
 
Peter,
Another good source is the Weyers themselves.
Louise (Jim's wife) carries a lot of hard to find books as well as Points of Interest.
She can be reached at law-weyerinternational@email.msn.com.



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" The real art of living is to keep alive the longing in human beings to become greater versions of themselves." Laurens Van der Post in memory of James Mattis
 
Here's what I own:


  • Coffee-table picture books
  • Jim Weyer's Knives: Points Of Interest books I-V series
  • Hand-Crafted Knives - Masterpieces By American Knifemakers
  • Joseph Rogers & Sons - The Samuel Setian Collection
  • Loveless - Living On the Edge


    Knife annual-kinda books
  • Knives annuals ('97, '99, '00)
  • The Gun Digest Book of Knives


    Knifemaking books
  • Ed Fowler's Knife Talk
  • The Wonder of Knifemaking by Wayne Goddard
  • Knifemaking by Bo Bergman
  • How To Make Knives by Barney and Loveless
  • Blades 'n' Stuff catalog by Bob Engnath
  • The Jim Hrisoulas series - The Complete Bladesmith, The Master Bladesmith, and The Pattern-Welded Blade


    Price guides
  • Levine's Guide To Knives and Their Values
  • Pocket Knife - Traders Price Guide


    Knife catalogs - each in their own three-ring binders
  • Arizona Custom Knives monthly color catalog
  • Northwest Knives and Collectibles monthly catalog
  • A.G. Russell's monthly catalog
  • The First Knife Auction by Voyles
  • The Knife Collection of Albert Blevins by Bernard Levine


    Knifemakers supply and industrial catalogs
  • McMaster-Carr industrial supplies
  • Grainger industrial supplies
  • MSC Industrial Supply
  • Grizzly industrial supplies
  • Sheffield Knifemakers Supply
  • Texas Knifemaker's Supply
  • Koval Knives knifemakers supply


    Magazines
    Several years of the following:
  • Blade
  • Knives Illustrated
  • Tactical Knives

There are still many more I want - The Sheffield Knives book, the Moran books, the Antique Bowie Knife Book, etc...

You can get the Points of Interest series here:

http://www.agrknives.com/gifts/bkpoi1.html

It's the best $150 in knife money you'll ever spend IMO.


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Kelly
My Custom Knife Collection

Member NCCKG, SCAK, and AKTI

Deo Vindice

[This message has been edited by Senator (edited 02-18-2001).]
 
Gerald Witcher's "Counterfeiting Antique Cutlery" is excellent and will save you a few headaches. (ISBN#0-9661028-0-0)
 
I have 2 older Gun Digest Knife books for sale on the Trading Post forum is anyone is interested.

Dave
 
To Raptor, Gus, Senator, Paracelsus, Soloman and Yitz, a big thank you for all the wonderful reading references.

That should keep me busy for a while. Yes, sirree. I would say a long while.

I just noticed that my wallet has fainted.



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Make Love your strongest weapon. Compassion your shield and forgiveness your armour.
 
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