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Unlocking the Portals of History through the Lock and Key Collection of Scott J. Klemm
"Unlocking the Portals of History through the Lock and Key Collection of Scott J. Klemm" tells the story of the evolution of the lock and key by examining its many artifacts. Some may be evolutionary dead-ends, but all pay tribute to the ingenuity of the human spirit. The book seeks to not only describe these locks, but also tell something about their inventors and/or makers. This adds a little human interest to what otherwise might be viewed as cold, inanimate objects of iron or brass.
The 118 page book contains about 300 illustrations, and consists of the following sections: Preface, 1. Ancient Locks, 2. Locks of Spain, France and Central Europe, 3. British Locks, 4. Locks from Scandinavia and Russia, 5. Locks of Asia and the Middle East, 6. American Padlocks, 7. American Rim and Other Lock Types, 8. Keys, Bibliography and Further Reading.
The price of the book is $15.00. Copies may be obtained by contacting the Museum Store of the San Bernardino County Museum at 2024 Orange Tree Lane, Redlands, CA 92374-4560 or (909) 307-2669 ext. 228. The author may be contacted at scottjklemm@aol.com.
The 118 page book contains about 300 illustrations, and consists of the following sections: Preface, 1. Ancient Locks, 2. Locks of Spain, France and Central Europe, 3. British Locks, 4. Locks from Scandinavia and Russia, 5. Locks of Asia and the Middle East, 6. American Padlocks, 7. American Rim and Other Lock Types, 8. Keys, Bibliography and Further Reading.
The price of the book is $15.00. Copies may be obtained by contacting the Museum Store of the San Bernardino County Museum at 2024 Orange Tree Lane, Redlands, CA 92374-4560 or (909) 307-2669 ext. 228. The author may be contacted at scottjklemm@aol.com.
118 pages, Paperback
First published June 17, 2013
21 people want to read
About the author
Scott J. Klemm
3 books15 followers Scott Klemm lives in California. He is a retired high school history teacher.
Scott is a person of many interests. He enjoys the outdoors and photographing birds and wildflowers. In 2006 he went on an East Africa safari where he took many pictures of the animals, birds and people.
Scott has a collection of antique locks and keys. Late in 2008, he self-published a limited edition entitled, "Ancient Locks: The Evolutionary Development of the Lock and Key." A second book, "Unlocking the Portals of History" was published by the San Bernardino County Museum Association in 2013.
Scott is a person of many interests. He enjoys the outdoors and photographing birds and wildflowers. In 2006 he went on an East Africa safari where he took many pictures of the animals, birds and people.
Scott has a collection of antique locks and keys. Late in 2008, he self-published a limited edition entitled, "Ancient Locks: The Evolutionary Development of the Lock and Key." A second book, "Unlocking the Portals of History" was published by the San Bernardino County Museum Association in 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 19, 2013
If author Scott Klemm had not admitted to being a retired history teacher I might have guessed. I'm pretty sure that the classes he taught were more interesting than the ones I was in.
Klemm has included photographs and descriptions of the locks in his personal collection, which is both extensive and interesting. His descriptions go beyond just describing each lock. He includes additional information about each lock or key, about the person responsible for its invention and about how the lock was manufactured. The author commented that he regretted that b&w photos were used because cost prohibited using color photos but I'm not sure that detracted from the book since seeing the precise color of a particular lock or key might only be appreciated by the most advanced collector.
It is interesting how similar ideas were developed in parallel by different inventors, how some became steps in the development of better locks and how some became simply artifacts of that time and place.
This technique of presenting history through artifacts has been used in several other books lately, the outstanding example probably being A History of the World in 100 Objects.
I was particularly interested in the two chapters on American locks because they are of personal interest to me but I think that the chapter on keys may be of more interest to beginning collectors. This is a collecting area that I may get more involved in because the small size of keys makes them convenient and attractive to display and a very interesting collection can be put together at a relatively small cost. I already have Don Stewart's Standard Guide to Key Collecting but that is more of an inventory; there is more actual information about the different kinds of keys in Klemm's book. Key collectors would, of course, be better off with both.
Other books on my list of my favorite lock books:
American Genius: Nineteenth-Century Bank Locks and Time Locksby David Erroll, John Erroll and Anne Day
The Lure of the Lockby Albert A. Hopkins
Early Locks and Lockmakers of America by Thomas F Hennessy
Klemm has included photographs and descriptions of the locks in his personal collection, which is both extensive and interesting. His descriptions go beyond just describing each lock. He includes additional information about each lock or key, about the person responsible for its invention and about how the lock was manufactured. The author commented that he regretted that b&w photos were used because cost prohibited using color photos but I'm not sure that detracted from the book since seeing the precise color of a particular lock or key might only be appreciated by the most advanced collector.
It is interesting how similar ideas were developed in parallel by different inventors, how some became steps in the development of better locks and how some became simply artifacts of that time and place.
This technique of presenting history through artifacts has been used in several other books lately, the outstanding example probably being A History of the World in 100 Objects.
I was particularly interested in the two chapters on American locks because they are of personal interest to me but I think that the chapter on keys may be of more interest to beginning collectors. This is a collecting area that I may get more involved in because the small size of keys makes them convenient and attractive to display and a very interesting collection can be put together at a relatively small cost. I already have Don Stewart's Standard Guide to Key Collecting but that is more of an inventory; there is more actual information about the different kinds of keys in Klemm's book. Key collectors would, of course, be better off with both.
Other books on my list of my favorite lock books:
American Genius: Nineteenth-Century Bank Locks and Time Locksby David Erroll, John Erroll and Anne Day
The Lure of the Lockby Albert A. Hopkins
Early Locks and Lockmakers of America by Thomas F Hennessy
November 27, 2013
Well written and researched, author knows his subject matter.
September 24, 2013
Very interesting book. It includes a number of references to the original patents for some of the locks - always difficult to track down - and now that the Patent Office is effectively online (once you download the correct tiff reader) these are very helpful. Another problem area in collecting locks is finding the original manufacturer and a current status - between going out of business, acquisition by another company (sometimes multiple times) and mergers - the author provides a lot of information on these changes.
Good to see some reference to General Pitt-Rivers contribution to the study and knowledge of primitive locks - also one of Oxford's more interesting museums with a very helpful reference staff (even featured in an Inspector Morse Mystery).
I really enjoyed the book (obviously) and hope that the author will continue to contribute to the literature on the history of locks and the collecting of locks.
Good to see some reference to General Pitt-Rivers contribution to the study and knowledge of primitive locks - also one of Oxford's more interesting museums with a very helpful reference staff (even featured in an Inspector Morse Mystery).
I really enjoyed the book (obviously) and hope that the author will continue to contribute to the literature on the history of locks and the collecting of locks.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews