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Bookreview
The definitive biography and oeuvre overview of Thomas Tompion,
the best clockmaker of the golden age of British horology.
Thomas Tompion - 300 Years - A celebration of the life and work of Thomas Tompion. By Jeremy Evans, Jonathan Carter and Ben Wright; with a foreword by David Thompson; Photography primarily by Andy Green. Published 2013 by Water Lane Publishing (Stroud, Glouchestershire, UK, in a limited edition of 750 copies, plus a luxury edition limited to 100 signed copies). ISBN 978-0-9927561-0-9. 664 pages; 31cm x 25 cm; hardcover, cloth, dust jacket. Countless illustrations, mostly large format and in color. Includes a ‘catalog’ section of 281 pages, describing 121 items in detail, plus an exhaustive table of all known pieces [revised and corrected list based on Evans’ 2006 publication], a 46-item Bibliography and a substantial Index of 11 pages. Available from the publisher at http://www.waterlanepublishing.co.uk/ for UKP 175 (ca. 300 US$) plus shipping (Luxury edition is UKP 500). NAWCC members may borrow a copy from the NAWCC lending library.
Most horological historians of England would agree that the most celebrated craftsman making timekeepers in England during their golden era of clock production is the London based craftsman Thomas Tompion (1639-1713).
Until a few months ago there was only one comprehensive scholarly book describing his life and his output, and that book was published over half a century ago. (R.W. Symonds: Thomas Tompion, His Life and Work, First published 1951 by B.T. Batsford). The only other Tompion monograph of substance was Jeremy Evans’ book ‘Thomas Tompion at the Dial and Three Crowns’ (published 2006 by the Antiquarian Horological Society), consisting of the text of the richly illustrated Dingwall-Bellowe lecture on Tompion by Evans (given in 2003), accompanied by the Tompion serial numbers list which Evans had assembled in the course of 35 years of research.
A new comprehensive book on Tompion and his output was overdue. Much of the facts had already been meticulously assembled by the lead author over the decades, but – as the tercentenary of Tompion's death was approaching - it became clear that an infusion of new blood was needed to get an updated, comprehensive book to the public by the 300[SUP]th[/SUP] anniversary of Tompions death. Two young horological dealers, Tompion enthusiasts and scholars of the classic era of British clocks, Ben Wright and Jonathan Carter, rose to the challenge, and worked with Evans to meet the deadline.
The resulting book represents a milestone in British horological scholarship and publishing: It unites in one hefty publication (over 4 kilograms) most of the existing knowledge about Tompions life and oeuvre. It is not a ‘narrative’ that anyone will read cover to cover, but rather an authoritative resource that a horologist will turn to again and again to check some fact related to Thomas Tompion or his vast oeuvre.
The book is structured into six distinct sections, each of which could easily by itself stand alone as a valuable publication on Tompion:
1. The book starts with “A Chronology of Events in the lives of Thomas Tompion and those around him”. This is a 122-page list of dated events stretching from 1597 (The first documented use of the Tompion family name, by a blacksmith in Bedfordshire) to the 17[SUP]th[/SUP] of October 1743 [The burial date of the widow of James Tompion (a watchmaking nephew of Thomas Tompion, and the last Tompion horologist) in the churchyard of the church where Thomas Tompion had been baptized 104 years earlier]. This section, strictly chronological, lists on each page ten to twenty ‘events’ relevant to the Tompion story on a given date (sometimes even giving the hour) and often quoting original source material. On most page-spreads there are - along the right margin - three captioned, small illustrations showing people, locations, events or objects relevant to the listed events. No narrative, just several hundreds of timed facts surrounding the life of Tompion.
2. “A Study of Tompion’s Domestic Clocks” (81 pages) documents in considerable detail the way the Tompion workshop was organized to produce a large number of both spring-driven clocks (42 pp) and longcase clocks (20 pp). The role of third-party ‘outside’ craftsmen is examined, and production techniques are described. A 7-page section explains the Tompion system of numbering (some of) his clocks. Virtually every page of this section is illustrated with detailed color photographs (up to 12 per page) documenting specific features of clocks, and how they evolved over the years in Tompions workshop. Dials, hands, spandrelscase feet, name engravings, etc are discussed, and the functionality of three different repeating systems (Silent Pull-Quarter Repeat, Striking and Pull-Quarter Repeat, Three-Train Full Grande Sonnerie Striking and Trip Repeat) are explained and illustrated in full detail. For numerous examples fully detailed train counts are provided. A discussion of decorative plate engraving takes up 12 pages, and 19 pages are devoted to case details of spring driven (9 pp) and long case (10pp) Tompion clocks.
3. “Tompion’s Customers and visitors to his shop” with ‘only’ 38 pages this is the shortest of the six sections. Starting with the sovereign houses of Europe [England and Scotland (6 patrons), France (2), Germany (3), Denmark (1), Netherlands (2), Italy (2), Spain (1) and Sweden (1)], and then moving on to ‘British subjects and others’ (alphabetically from Thomas Bruce Ailesbury, who ‘on 19 March 1689 paid Mr.Tompion mending 2 watches £1:2;6’ all the way to a Dr. Zanches, who ‘met Hooke at Tompion’s on a rainy day, 16[SUP]th[/SUP] January 1690’). This chapter contains mini-biographies (mostly illustrated) of 132 prominent persons of his time known to have either visited the Tompion workshops or ordered a timekeeping device from him.
4. “Tompion’s Watches & Watchmakers” (52 pages) primarily documents 34 specific examples of typical pocketwatches produced in his workshop. Over 5000 watches were made there overall. In the collective conscious of the horological community, Tompion is known primarily as a clockmaker, but in reality, in his life, in his business dealings, and in the activities of his workshop, watches were as important, if not more important than clocks. In this section of the book a selection of 34 specific Tompion pocket watches is presented in a short descriptive text, each illustrated with one to six images. Some individual tradesmen working for the workshop are identified, some train counts are documented and there is a table of punch marks found on Tompion watches, and some matches between names and identities are suggested. That section concludes with the astonishing observation that “of Tompion’s assumed watch production about 80% remain unaccounted for”.
5. The “Catalog” Section, which is in the opinion of this reviewer the core – and the most valuable part- of the book, with 281 pages, accounts for nearly one third of the length of the book. 131 items are documented in detail. In the six subchapters of the catalog listed below, each clock or watch typically merits about a half or a full column of text. Each entry lists ‘Name’, Number, Date, Dimensions, Case, Dial, Duration, Movement, Escapement type, Strike type, Provenance and Comment, and features one to six images (ranging from a quarter page size to full page size. Images typically showing both movement and case, sometimes dial close-ups, or unusual case or movement details. This results in catalog entries ranging from one to four pages in length for the 131 items with full catalog entries.
5A. “Spring Clocks”, 68 pages, 33 clocks
5B. “Grande-Sonnerie Spring Clocks”, 37 pages, 11 clocks
5C. “Special Spring Clocks”, 29 pages, 8 clocks
5D. “Longcase Clocks”, 42 pages, 20 clocks
5E. “Special Longcase Clocks”, 44 pages, 16 clocks
5F. “Miscellaneous Clocks and Instruments”, includes timers, sundials, towerclocks and barometers, 21 pages, 12 items
5G. “Watches”, 29 pages, 19 watches
6. “A Concise Check List of Clocks, Watches and Instruments from the Workshops of Thomas Tompion and his Associates” This is a revised, augmented, updated and corrected version (60 pages, in table format, includes its own reference sources) of the list first presented in Evans’ 2006 book. It is a priceless reference tool, and hopefully will be updated and maintained for the benefit of future generations of horological researchers.
An eleven-page Index concludes this amazing publication.
For any horological enthusiast with a serious interest in the core era of British clockmaking there is little choice. This is a ‘must-have’ and core element on your ‘British Horology’ bookshelf. Admittedly, the book is not cheap, but as pointed out before, because this single volume really combines the material and insights usually spread out over multiple publications into one massive book, so it is a good value. In addition, it is beautifully produced, features gorgeous photography by somebody who understands clocks, is well printed and solidly bound.
The three authors, who self-published the book, deserve high praise for their willingness to share their insights, their expertise and their knowledge accumulated over decades.
Fortunat F. Mueller-Maerki, Sussex NJ - March 2014
The definitive biography and oeuvre overview of Thomas Tompion,
the best clockmaker of the golden age of British horology.
Thomas Tompion - 300 Years - A celebration of the life and work of Thomas Tompion. By Jeremy Evans, Jonathan Carter and Ben Wright; with a foreword by David Thompson; Photography primarily by Andy Green. Published 2013 by Water Lane Publishing (Stroud, Glouchestershire, UK, in a limited edition of 750 copies, plus a luxury edition limited to 100 signed copies). ISBN 978-0-9927561-0-9. 664 pages; 31cm x 25 cm; hardcover, cloth, dust jacket. Countless illustrations, mostly large format and in color. Includes a ‘catalog’ section of 281 pages, describing 121 items in detail, plus an exhaustive table of all known pieces [revised and corrected list based on Evans’ 2006 publication], a 46-item Bibliography and a substantial Index of 11 pages. Available from the publisher at http://www.waterlanepublishing.co.uk/ for UKP 175 (ca. 300 US$) plus shipping (Luxury edition is UKP 500). NAWCC members may borrow a copy from the NAWCC lending library.
Most horological historians of England would agree that the most celebrated craftsman making timekeepers in England during their golden era of clock production is the London based craftsman Thomas Tompion (1639-1713).
Until a few months ago there was only one comprehensive scholarly book describing his life and his output, and that book was published over half a century ago. (R.W. Symonds: Thomas Tompion, His Life and Work, First published 1951 by B.T. Batsford). The only other Tompion monograph of substance was Jeremy Evans’ book ‘Thomas Tompion at the Dial and Three Crowns’ (published 2006 by the Antiquarian Horological Society), consisting of the text of the richly illustrated Dingwall-Bellowe lecture on Tompion by Evans (given in 2003), accompanied by the Tompion serial numbers list which Evans had assembled in the course of 35 years of research.
A new comprehensive book on Tompion and his output was overdue. Much of the facts had already been meticulously assembled by the lead author over the decades, but – as the tercentenary of Tompion's death was approaching - it became clear that an infusion of new blood was needed to get an updated, comprehensive book to the public by the 300[SUP]th[/SUP] anniversary of Tompions death. Two young horological dealers, Tompion enthusiasts and scholars of the classic era of British clocks, Ben Wright and Jonathan Carter, rose to the challenge, and worked with Evans to meet the deadline.
The resulting book represents a milestone in British horological scholarship and publishing: It unites in one hefty publication (over 4 kilograms) most of the existing knowledge about Tompions life and oeuvre. It is not a ‘narrative’ that anyone will read cover to cover, but rather an authoritative resource that a horologist will turn to again and again to check some fact related to Thomas Tompion or his vast oeuvre.
The book is structured into six distinct sections, each of which could easily by itself stand alone as a valuable publication on Tompion:
1. The book starts with “A Chronology of Events in the lives of Thomas Tompion and those around him”. This is a 122-page list of dated events stretching from 1597 (The first documented use of the Tompion family name, by a blacksmith in Bedfordshire) to the 17[SUP]th[/SUP] of October 1743 [The burial date of the widow of James Tompion (a watchmaking nephew of Thomas Tompion, and the last Tompion horologist) in the churchyard of the church where Thomas Tompion had been baptized 104 years earlier]. This section, strictly chronological, lists on each page ten to twenty ‘events’ relevant to the Tompion story on a given date (sometimes even giving the hour) and often quoting original source material. On most page-spreads there are - along the right margin - three captioned, small illustrations showing people, locations, events or objects relevant to the listed events. No narrative, just several hundreds of timed facts surrounding the life of Tompion.
2. “A Study of Tompion’s Domestic Clocks” (81 pages) documents in considerable detail the way the Tompion workshop was organized to produce a large number of both spring-driven clocks (42 pp) and longcase clocks (20 pp). The role of third-party ‘outside’ craftsmen is examined, and production techniques are described. A 7-page section explains the Tompion system of numbering (some of) his clocks. Virtually every page of this section is illustrated with detailed color photographs (up to 12 per page) documenting specific features of clocks, and how they evolved over the years in Tompions workshop. Dials, hands, spandrelscase feet, name engravings, etc are discussed, and the functionality of three different repeating systems (Silent Pull-Quarter Repeat, Striking and Pull-Quarter Repeat, Three-Train Full Grande Sonnerie Striking and Trip Repeat) are explained and illustrated in full detail. For numerous examples fully detailed train counts are provided. A discussion of decorative plate engraving takes up 12 pages, and 19 pages are devoted to case details of spring driven (9 pp) and long case (10pp) Tompion clocks.
3. “Tompion’s Customers and visitors to his shop” with ‘only’ 38 pages this is the shortest of the six sections. Starting with the sovereign houses of Europe [England and Scotland (6 patrons), France (2), Germany (3), Denmark (1), Netherlands (2), Italy (2), Spain (1) and Sweden (1)], and then moving on to ‘British subjects and others’ (alphabetically from Thomas Bruce Ailesbury, who ‘on 19 March 1689 paid Mr.Tompion mending 2 watches £1:2;6’ all the way to a Dr. Zanches, who ‘met Hooke at Tompion’s on a rainy day, 16[SUP]th[/SUP] January 1690’). This chapter contains mini-biographies (mostly illustrated) of 132 prominent persons of his time known to have either visited the Tompion workshops or ordered a timekeeping device from him.
4. “Tompion’s Watches & Watchmakers” (52 pages) primarily documents 34 specific examples of typical pocketwatches produced in his workshop. Over 5000 watches were made there overall. In the collective conscious of the horological community, Tompion is known primarily as a clockmaker, but in reality, in his life, in his business dealings, and in the activities of his workshop, watches were as important, if not more important than clocks. In this section of the book a selection of 34 specific Tompion pocket watches is presented in a short descriptive text, each illustrated with one to six images. Some individual tradesmen working for the workshop are identified, some train counts are documented and there is a table of punch marks found on Tompion watches, and some matches between names and identities are suggested. That section concludes with the astonishing observation that “of Tompion’s assumed watch production about 80% remain unaccounted for”.
5. The “Catalog” Section, which is in the opinion of this reviewer the core – and the most valuable part- of the book, with 281 pages, accounts for nearly one third of the length of the book. 131 items are documented in detail. In the six subchapters of the catalog listed below, each clock or watch typically merits about a half or a full column of text. Each entry lists ‘Name’, Number, Date, Dimensions, Case, Dial, Duration, Movement, Escapement type, Strike type, Provenance and Comment, and features one to six images (ranging from a quarter page size to full page size. Images typically showing both movement and case, sometimes dial close-ups, or unusual case or movement details. This results in catalog entries ranging from one to four pages in length for the 131 items with full catalog entries.
5A. “Spring Clocks”, 68 pages, 33 clocks
5B. “Grande-Sonnerie Spring Clocks”, 37 pages, 11 clocks
5C. “Special Spring Clocks”, 29 pages, 8 clocks
5D. “Longcase Clocks”, 42 pages, 20 clocks
5E. “Special Longcase Clocks”, 44 pages, 16 clocks
5F. “Miscellaneous Clocks and Instruments”, includes timers, sundials, towerclocks and barometers, 21 pages, 12 items
5G. “Watches”, 29 pages, 19 watches
6. “A Concise Check List of Clocks, Watches and Instruments from the Workshops of Thomas Tompion and his Associates” This is a revised, augmented, updated and corrected version (60 pages, in table format, includes its own reference sources) of the list first presented in Evans’ 2006 book. It is a priceless reference tool, and hopefully will be updated and maintained for the benefit of future generations of horological researchers.
An eleven-page Index concludes this amazing publication.
For any horological enthusiast with a serious interest in the core era of British clockmaking there is little choice. This is a ‘must-have’ and core element on your ‘British Horology’ bookshelf. Admittedly, the book is not cheap, but as pointed out before, because this single volume really combines the material and insights usually spread out over multiple publications into one massive book, so it is a good value. In addition, it is beautifully produced, features gorgeous photography by somebody who understands clocks, is well printed and solidly bound.
The three authors, who self-published the book, deserve high praise for their willingness to share their insights, their expertise and their knowledge accumulated over decades.
Fortunat F. Mueller-Maerki, Sussex NJ - March 2014
