A Christie's Book

Beginning with the Mantons in the eighteenth century and continuing with the like of Purdey, Lang, Lancaster, Beesley, Boss, Holland and Holland and Woodward, among many others, British technical expertise and craftsmanship in the production and refinement of high quality sporting weapons has taken and held the lead throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

It is some measure for the high regard for the products of the London trade that so many subsequent designs were linked to their makers names by way of description around the world, such as the Purdey bolt, the Beesley/Purdey action, Holland & Holland locks and opening mechanisms and features of the Woodward and Boss over and under designs.

This book chronicles the history of the London gun trade by gathering together in one volume the aggregate of surviving historical knowledge about the businesses large and small which between them made the London gun trade what it is.

It provides an alphabetical list of all gunmakers and related trades giving their dates, addresses and changes, together with 48 individual histories. There is an alphabetical list of gunmakers serial number records on a scale never previously achieved and various schedules list those individuals who have taken a leading part in the administration of the trade over the years. The author has also produced, for the first time, an alphabetical index of the brand names used by the various businesses in the London trade in the respect of guns, rifles, cartridges & powders.

This readable book contains a rich collection of facts and anecdotes about the London trade, which will serve as an encyclopedia and a guide for collectors and members of the trade alike. Above all is stands as a monument to those craftsmen past and present, who built the London guns."

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