I was certainly not thinking of William Rees, Industry Before the
Industrial Revolution. I know the book well, but have found that it
cannot be trusted, because it is frequently inaccurate in detail. It is
not a book which I would recommend to any one unless there was really no
other source. Rees may well have done some useful research, but at the
very least he was inclined to jump to unwarranted conclusions and on several
occasions made statements which if he had taken the trouble to examine the
original documents to which he was clearly referring, he would have found
them to be different in nature from what he said they were. One of the
worst examples concerns a partnership in ironworks between A B C and D,
which he calls a lease by A and B to C and D. He has also used a reference
in a calendar of documents concerning litigation about ironworks at Shifnal
and estates there and elsewhere in Shropshire (e.g. Culmington, I think) to
say that there were ironworks at Culmington, which are no more than a
figment of his imagination based on a misinterpretation of a brief (and
accurate) summary of the litigation.
Peter King
----- Original Message -----
From: Stephen Birkett <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 19 April 2000 00:31
Subject: Re: 15th-17th Century Forging/Smelting Techniques
> Peter writes:
> > I think there is a book with a title something like medieval industry
that
> > has a section on iron, but it is not in my personal bibliography
> >
> You might be thinking of William Rees, Industry Before the Industrial
> Revolution, Incorporating a Study of the Chartered Companies of the
> Society of Mines Royal and of Mineral and Battery Works.."Industry Before
> the Industrial Revolution" for short. 2 vols. University of Wales Press,
> Cardiff, 1968.
>
> Stephen
>
> Stephen Birkett Fortepianos
> Authentic Reproductions of 18th and 19th Century Pianos
> 464 Winchester Drive
> Waterloo, Ontario
> Canada N2T 1K5
> tel: 519-885-2228
> mailto: [log in to unmask]
>
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