Josue Scharff de francfort.
Frankfurt a.M., Josua Scharff [1747].
Oblong 8vo (101 x 205 mm.). Manuscript on paper. [iv], 123, [8], [2 blank], [2], [2 blank], [2], [2 blank], [1], [1 blank], [6], [4 blank], [2], [1 blank], [3], [2 blank], [4], [26 blank], [2], [31 blank]; [48]p. ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-THREE MOSTLY ACTUAL-SIZE DESIGNS OF BLADES, TOOLS AND HARDWARE EXECUTED IN PEN AND ALMOST ALL COMPLETED IN WATERCOLOR (thirty-two are double-page, eleven are uncolored, one is sketched in pencil); the images are captioned in German and French (a few in Dutch), a folding paper model for a two-handle serrated saw tipped in, thumb-cut index ruled in red with hand-stamped letters, 19th-century inscription on the front free endpaper.
Contemporary flexible blind-ruled speckled brown calf over soft paper boards (one corner and one lower edge worn, rebacked with the original spine laid down).
TRADESMAN JOSUA SCHARFF PREPARED THIS STRIKING COMMERCIAL SAMPLE BOOK FOR HIS FIRST SALES TRIP IN JUNE 1747. He showcased one hundred nine edged tools and a wide variety of other implements designed for the specialized needs of highly skilled craftsmen — carpenters, turners, barrel- and cabinetmakers — as well as the day-to-day duties of householders — butchering, cooking, wood chopping, gardening….
From 1745, the Scharff brothers, Josua and Gottfried, manufactured wares in their Frankfurt and Remscheid shops and took commissions from German, French and Dutch clients. Here they advertise, i.a., fire strikers, fireplace tools, TWENTY-FOUR LOCKING MECHANISMS FOR DOORS, CLOSETS AND TRUNKS, sixteen different models of handsaws, elaborate figured chisels for framers, an adjustable spanner, winches, trowels, pliers, a scale, a compass and a razor. THE TIPPED-IN SAW MODEL BEARS A CUSTOMER’S SPECIFIC MANUFACTURING INSTRUCTIONS. Among the luxury products are a walnut door handle embellished with a human head and A FINELY DECORATED DAGGER HILT OF GUAIAC WOOD FROM THE NEW WORLD.
For some thirty years the Scharff family took orders from this salesman’s catalog. In 1894, Ernst Scharff received a U.S. patent (no. 512125) for a safety razor — then the business’ specialty. The company operated into the 20th century. In nice condition; a late 19th-century flyleaf note by a family member records this copy’s history (as recounted above).
¶See Dietz’s Frankfurter Handelsgeschichte IV: 268-269 and Salaman’s “Tradesmens’ Tools c. 1500-1850” in A History of Technology ed. Singer 110-133.
Price: $28,000.00