Edward Duffield

Philadelphia Clockmaker, Citizen, Gentleman, 1730-1803

Bob Frishman (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

256 Seiten

2024
American Philosophical Society (Verlag)
978-1-60618-009-9 (ISBN)

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The first comprehensive study of the life and times of colonial Philadelphia clockmaker Edward Duffield

Edward Duffield (1730–1803) was a colonial Philadelphia clockmaker, whose elegant brass, mahogany, and walnut timekeepers stand proudly in major American museums and collections. Duffield, unlike other leather-apron ‘mechanics,’ was born rich and owned a country estate, Benfield, and many more properties. He was deeply involved in civic and church affairs during crucial years in American history—his lifelong close friend, Benjamin Franklin, was staying at Duffield’s Benfield estate when Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams first discussed the Declaration of Independence. Sally, Franklin’s daughter, brought her family there for extended periods during the Revolution and Franklin’s wife, Deborah, was best friends for fifty years with Duffield’s mother-in-law. Duffield was even one of three executors of Franklin’s will.

In this lavishly illustrated book, Bob Frishman catalogs and describes seventy-one known Duffield clocks and instruments and reveals how, during the mid-eighteenth century, they largely were not fabricated from scratch by isolated individuals. He contends that Duffield and his fellow clockmakers were not furniture-makers; they were mechanical artisans whose complex metal machines rang the hours and steadily ticked inside wooden cases made by others. Existing books on Philadelphia clocks have focused on these artifacts as furniture, including their woodwork, cabinetmakers, and decorative aspects. However, Frishman, a professional horologist for nearly four decades, brings his vast expertise to bear on this first comprehensive study of Duffield’s life and work.

Far more than a treatise on pre-industrial horological timekeeping, this book tells the compelling stories of a man, a city, and an era, while deepening our appreciation for Duffield’s stately sentinels—often a colonial American family’s most valuable possession—and the times and places in which their makers lived.

Erscheinungsdatum	07.08.2024
Zusatzinfo	227 illustrations
Verlagsort	Philadelphia
Sprache	englisch
Maße	241 x 318 mm
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Freizeit / Hobby ► Sammeln / Sammlerkataloge
	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► Regional- / Landesgeschichte
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
ISBN-10	1-60618-009-6 / 1606180096
ISBN-13	978-1-60618-009-9 / 9781606180099
Zustand	Neuware