A Good Read: A Museum of Early American Tools
A Museum of Early American Tools by Eric Sloane is a short, interesting overview and history of different types of early hand tools as found in (obviously) early America. The book has well-done black-and-white illustrations of various tool types by chapter, such as Axes, Hammers, Draw Knives, and other typical early hand tools. It’s not an exhaustive reference for the collector but a guide to familiarize yourself on the types and use of such tools — a perfect stocking stuffer and as affordable as a paperback new on Amazon, for $8.95, although you can find used copies for much less. You can check out a limited preview on Google Books to see if it’s up your alley.
An awesome (and very old) book! I’ve had a copy for about 35 years. I can also highly recommend another of Sloane’s books, “A Reverence for Wood,” or just about any of his other books.
http://www.librarything.com/author/sloaneeric
Many of them great reading for Toolmongers.