Thread: Any good books on straight razors?

Hello Gents.
I have researched some, and have not found but 1 book pertaining to straight razors or their history.(It was a PDF file) If anyone has any suggestions on titles of books for straight razors, or the history of them, I would greatly appreciate any such titles, etc. As usual, all comments, etc., are greatly appreciated.

Here is one

(1895) Essay on Barbers' Razors, Razor Hones, Razor Stropes & Razor Honing

Here is one pdf on W&B

https://www.dropbox.com/s/guj28kzciu...uly2012%29.pdf

here the Art of Mainlines

http://www.shavemyface.com/downloads...azor-Shave.pdf

The invisible edge

http://www.theinvisibleedge.co.uk/ch...aightrazor.pdf

I love this book

Straight Razors
900 Years of Razor & Case Excellence 1000-1900
By Renzo Jardella





Its one drop dead razor after another. Incredible collections.

There is "Collecting Straight Razors", by Robert A. Doyle. Pretty sure it is OOP but found on the bay from time to time. Also "Standard Guide To Razors" by Ritchie and Stewart. Both combine some history and values at the time of publication. The values are dated and the info isn't always accurate compared to what is known today, but they are interesting to look at for a razor maven. The Renzo Jardella book Tarkus mentioned is in a class by itself. I only recommend it to those who can control their lust and accept their lot in life. Unless you have extremely deep pockets you'll never see the blades illustrated outside of a museum, or maybe in Voidmonster's collection.

Tarkus: I have had my eyes open for a copy of that book for quite awhile now. Looks stunning.

There is also Goins encyclopedia of cutlery marks. It has no values but tidbits of info.

As always, thanks for the replies, I appreciate them.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

The Renzo Jardella book Tarkus mentioned is in a class by itself. I only recommend it to those who can control their lust and accept their lot in life.

I can tell by the pictures. Your statement is prophetic...I must either never see this book, or channel Willie Sutton.

I got the Renzo Jardella book when it first came out - you had to order direct from Renzo. Turned out that he is acknowledged as the owner of one of the biggest collections of safety razors in the UK.

I think he also had a traders stall in Portobello Market, from which he sold his (first?) book about safety razors - Star Safety Razors.

When I phoned to order the book, I was astonished to speak to Renzo, who lived in London. He invited me to come and visit him and see his collection, which was charming of him, but I never got the time to go...

The book itself has some gorgeous razors in it - real pieces of art, and the cases are marvels too. There is another self-printed book that was available some time ago by a French author - that is marvelous too, but I forget the name - will have to hunt down my copy.

Tweedales books are amazing, though most of them are to do with the age of Sheffield Steel. They are extensively quoted on the net, and little or no reference is given to the author, which is a shame, seeing s he did all the footwork. Some people have even posted all his entries on their own sites as if they discovered all the info - sad!

One of his outstanding books is the Sheffield Knife Book, hideously expensive, plus Steel City.

From Masters to Mesters by Binfield and Hey is another good one. You can find others - a lot of the knife books (Bernard Levine) are useful because a lot of knifemakers were also razor makers, but the specialist information is sometimes a bit lacking and in some cases erroneous, talking of which the Goins Encyclopaedia whilst being very entertaining is full of errors and inaccuracies, so unless you have access to ways of checking the info (online census and ancestry sites, Directories of Merchants for various years, etc) it is hazardous to quote Goins as gospel.

Regards,
Neil

I have several books about straight razors.
1. Goins Encyclopedia Of Cutlery Markings, which the cheapest I've found it was at Knife World, just Google it
2. Getting To Know Your Straight Razors, by Phillip L. Krumholz which can be found on eBay by username razorman2 who is the Author, signed by him
3. The Razor Anthology, which I found on Ebay
4. American Premium Guide To Knives & Razors Identification & Value Guide - 4th Edithion, Sargents, I found on eBay
5. American Premium Guide To Knives & Razors Identification & Value Guide - 7th Edition, by Jim Sargent, I found on eBay
6. Standard Guide To Razors Identification & Values, by Roy Ritchie & Ron Stewart, I found on eBay
7. Standard Guide To Razors Identification & Values Second Edition, by Roy Ritchie & Ron Stewart, I found on eBay
8. Standard Guide To Razors Identification & Values Third Edition, by Roy Ritchie & Ron Stewart, I found on eBay
9. Straight Razor Collecting, by Robert A. Doyle, I found on Amazon
Most of these if you can't find them where I mentioned can be found at Amazon used & new sometimes