The Hammer: The King of Tools, by Ron Baird & Dan Comerford. 352 Pages. Softbound. Subtitled "A Collector's Handbook", this book, written by two of the World's foremost experts in the field of percussion tool technology, succeeds in its avowed task of making sense of an implement that ranges from the simplicity of a stone on the end of a stick to the complexity of patented special purpose hammer that only an inventor's mother could love. Divided into two distinct sections, the book begins with a pictorial analysis of hammers of every sort, and includes photographs of mallets, double claw hammers, stoneworking hammers, tack hammers and many, many, more. The second section, and the one that will prove most worthwhile to collectors and dealers, features an index of all known hammer patents together with the original patent drawings as submitted to the U.S. Patent Office. Included are patents for hammers for the one-armed man, nail holding hammers, double claw hammers, combination tools of every sort (including a hammer/wrench combination that is an insult to the integrity of each of its components) and much more. If you have an interest in tools, "The Hammer" will open the Door of Discovery to an interesting and infinitely variable world. An essential reference. UNAVAILABLE (BK-0126)