[Rarebooks] fs: REALLY obscure wool weights book

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

Dent, Herbert C. OLD ENGLISH BRONZE WOOL-WEIGHTS.

Norwich; H.W. Hunt: 1927.
Edition limited to 200 numbered and signed copies.

Given the importance of the wool trade in England, and the penchant that 
the English have always had for preciseness, is it any wonder that sometime 
around the reign of Henry VII they came up with special weights for 
weighing wool ? These weights were almost always in either stone (14 lb.) 
or half-stone (7 lb.) measures, and although other types of weights rarely 
have Royal Arms impressed on them, almost all wool weights did.

Such weights were presumably carried by the Tronator, a Royal official 
whose duty it was to travel the countryside, weighing wool and collecting 
the King's custom charge. Most weights have a hole at the top, through 
which a leather strap was probably passed and the weights slung across his 
horse (Dent pictures such a strap from his own collection). The fact that 
almost all such weights are of the 7 lb. variety instead of 14 lbs. seems 
to add credence to the theory that they were used in pairs and carried 
around, the half-stone weights obviously being easier on a horse.

The subject was (and remains) not very well documented and details remain a 
bit obscure, but Dent has come up with a surprising amount of information 
and quite a few examples. Included here is a rather rare example with 
Cromwell's arms, as well as examples with the arms of Henry VII, Elizabeth, 
Charles I, James II, Queen Anne, William III, William & Mary, George I, and 
George III. An interesting, if somewhat offbeat, foray into a little-known 
branch of weights and measures. Hardcover. 5.5"x8.5", 32 pages plus 29 b/w 
plates; a little light wear, but a very nice copy. [05443] $275.00

Illustration-
<http://www.joslinhall.com/images03/th-05443.jpg>


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