Stockman Question

afishhunter

afishhunter

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Does anyone know when the stockman partern was introduced, and what company introduced it?

(Mods, if this belongs in Mr. Levine's sub forum, please move it.)
 
According to Levine's Guide to Knives and Their Values 4th edition p288, the premium stock pattern was introduced circa 1890. I've seen the pattern in catalogs that old but haven't looked for it in older catalogs.

I don't know which manufacturer was first. Sometimes new patterns seemed to pop up in catalogs at the same time from many makers. For example, I've seen examples of sowbelly knives (a modern collector term for a stockman with a big curve) from more than one maker in 1910. Who was following who??? I haven't seen earlier examples of the sowbelly.
 
I gave away my extra copies of the book in the traditional forum back when they were selling for $100-200. I'm not sure what they're going for now. Although I would encourage folks to buy the 4th Edition, I would also encourage folks to buy and read what they can get their hands on. Basic questions could be answered in earlier editions. As far as the changes to the book, I haven't kept up but BRL gave a comparison of the 4th and 5th. http://www.knife-expert.com/lg5review.htm The text was unchanged (research is hard ;) ) so it would still be good as a historical reference. The value system and prices were screwed up. If someone just wanted the history, they might buy the 5th and ignore the prices.
 
supratentorial said:
The text was unchanged (research is hard ;) ) so it would still be good as a historical reference. The value system and prices were screwed up. If someone just wanted the history, they might buy the 5th and ignore the prices.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that, Very Good to know!
 
I definitely appreciate the value of the 4th edition but I'd hate for people not to pursue their interest in old knives because they can't find or afford the necessary reading materials. There's still a lot that can be learned from the early editions. And if you understand the limitations of the 5th and ignore the values (and hold your nose ;) ), you can still get the benefit of BRL's original text. I haven't looked at the 6th or 7th editions but I've heard that they expanded on the 5th edition so they have the same limitations. I don't know if the text was messed with in later editions.

Reprinting the 4th would be great but I doubt Krause would do it. They could also make a new edition that contains the intact 4th edition (unchanged) and add any additional content separately as an addendum. But I doubt they will do that either.
 
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