The ironsmiths of Waidhofen

[Iron industry in Lower Austria]. Register aller Stahl- und Eisen Commerzial-Arbeiter zu Waidhofen an der Yps. ("Index of all Commercial Steel and Iron Workers in Waidhofen upon Ybbs").

€ 15,000.00

This uncommonly attractive manuscript from Waidhofen an der Ybbs, the centre of the Lower Austrian iron industry since the Middle Ages, depicts the products of the various local ironsmiths as well as their punch-marks in watercolours of superior quality, thus providing an invaluable a key to identifying extant iron tools. The illustrated tools include scythes, sickles, knives, hammers, pliers, compasses, wrenches and vices, saws, razors, locks and keys, axes and hatchets, spades, sabres, horseshoes, bells, lamps, guns and crossbows, files, nails, hooks, pots and pans, watering cans, spoons and ladles and many other specialist tools.

Dedicated to the 30-year-old Archduke Ferdinand (1793-1875), later (1835-48) Emperor of Austria as Ferdinand I, with illustrated dedicatory leaf following the title page: "Ihro Kais. Kön. Hoheit dem Kronprinz Ferdinand von Oesterreich bey Hochderselben Durchreise in der Commerzial-Stadt Waidhofen an der Yps, den 26. August 1823, in Ehrfurcht gewidmet vom Stadtmagistrat zu Waidhofen an der Yps" ("To his Imperial and Royal Highness the Crown Prince Ferdinand of Austria on the Occasion of His Passing Through the Commercial Town of Waidhofen Upon Ybbs on the 26th of August, 1823, Dedicated Reverently by the Town Council").

Binding slightly rubbed and insignificantly stained in places. A fine document of Lower Austrian craft and trade history, important as a historical source.