A New Year is always a time to review the past and plan the future. Ros and I are both over 75 now and have decided that it is time to retire and pursue other interests. Jeffrey Formby Antiques will therefore cease to trade at the end of March 2026. The good news is that a Retirement Sale discount of 25% will apply to all orders received before then with a books value of £10.00 or more.

We have lots of good books and journals still in stock including many of the harder to find titles. Listed below are some of the scarce and rare titles still in stock, all will receive a 25% discount at the checkout. When they are gone, they are gone!

Some of the rarer books in stock:

Tardy: French Clocks the World Over (4 volume set)
Tardy

O/P. Part 1: 5th edition, 1981. Volume title: From their beginnings to the Louis XV - Louis XVI Transition period.
Part 2: 5th edition, 1981. Volume title: From Louis XVI style to Louis XVIII - Charles X period.
Part 3: 5th edition, 1982. Volume title: From the Louis-Philippe style to the Modern clock and the French provinces.
Part 4: 5th edition, 1985. Volume title: Northern, Middle, Eastern and Mediterranean Europe; Japan.
This is a large and comprehensive work with a wealth of illustrations. Volume 3 also has chapters on clocks from the Netherlands, Belgium, England, Scotland, Ireland, the United States and Canada. An essential book for collectors of French clocks. This is a very good set, each volume is in its original hardback binding with no inscriptions or bookplates, binding still tight, minor wear to bottom edges, 2 bumped corners to Part 2.

The four volumes have 356, 392, 524 and 618 pages respectively.

£550.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Treatise on Clock and Watch Making,
Theoretical and Practical
Thomas Reid

O.P. The first edition of this celebrated work by Thomas Reid, the famous Edinburgh clock and watch maker. The book is a comprehensive treatise on clocks, watches and chronometers with information on orreries and turret clocks. A very good copy with a little dust staining to the edges of some pages, the plates in good condition. Very good modern binding with leather spine and marbled paper covered boards.

xii, 476 pages, 19 folding plates, 1st edition, 1826.

£225.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Atkins (S.E.) & Overall (W.H.): Some Account of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers of the City of London
O/P. £150.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Chandlee (E.E.): Six Quaker Clockmakers
O/P. £50.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Bell (G.H.) & Bell (E.F.): Old English Barometers
O/P. £35.00 less 25% Order Here * Three copies only *

Atkins (C.E.):
The Company of Clockmakers: Register of Apprentices 1631 - 1931 (1931)
O/P. £145.00 less 25% Order Here * Three copies only *

Daly (A.): Ormskirk Clockmakers & Watchmakers
O/P. £75.00 less 25% Order Here * Two copies only *

Dowler (G.): Gloucestershire Clock & Watch Makers
O/P. £25.00 less 25% Order Here * Two copies only *

Haggar (A.L.) & Miller (L.F.): Suffolk Clocks and Clockmakers
O/P. £95.00 less 25% Order Here * Two copies only *

Hughes (R.G.) & Craven (M.): Clockmakers & Watchmakers of Derbyshire
O/P. £50.00 less 25% Order Here * Two copies only *

The Lost Science of John "Longitude" Harrison
William S. Laycock

O/P. Laycock investigated and explained the theory behind many of Harrison's ideas used on his wooden regulators and his marine clocks. As Harrison's own writings are very difficult to understand, Laycock's analysis of his ideas is of value to all enthusiasts. A very good copy (owners name and blind stamp on ffep, author's obituary pasted inside front cover) with very good dust (faded to spine), of a scarce book.

159 pages, 144 figs., signed by author, 1976.

£235.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Mason (B.): Clock and Watchmaking in Colchester
O/P. £85.00 less 25% Order Here * Two copies only *

Mercer (V.): John Arnold & Son Chronometer Makers 1762 - 1843
O/P. £110.00 less 25% Order Here * Two copies only *

Tardy: General Bibliography of Time Measurement
O/P. £35.00 less 25% Order Here * Two copies only *

Moore (A.J.), Rice (R.W.) & Hucker (E.):
Bilbie and The Chew Valley Clock Makers
O/P. £75.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Millburn (J.R.):
Benjamin Martin: Author, Instrument-maker, and 'Country Showman'
O/P. £125.00 less 25% Order Here * Two copies only *

Norgate (J.), Norgate (M.) & Hudson (F.):
Dunfermline Clockmakers up to 1900
O/P. £45.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Pollard (D.): The Astronomical Clockmaker Edward Cockey, & other Warminster Horologists
O/P. £50.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

The Life and letters of Edward John Dent Chronometer Maker and some account of his Successors
Vaudrey Mercer

O/P. This is the standard reference work on the life and work of Edward John Dent the famous chronometer maker, with details of his successors in the business right up to the time the book was written. This book is increasingly harder to find. A very good copy with very good dust jacket, the supplement very good with card covers.

In total 893 pages, 176 plates, book published 1977, the supplement 1983.

£450.00 less 25% Order Here * Three copies only *

White (I.): Watch and Clock Makers in the City of Bath
O/P. £95.00 less 25% Order Here * Three copies only *

BHI: Principles and Explanations of Timekeepers by Harrison, Arnold and Earnshaw
O/P. £85.00 less 25% Order Here * Two copies only *

Gatty (A.): The Book of Sun-Dials. Collected by Mrs Alfred Gatty (1st edition, 1872)
O/P. £95.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Hope-Jones (F.): Electric Clocks
O/P. £55.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Synchronome Syndicate Ltd: Some Applications of the "Synchronome" System of Electric Time Service with Opinions Thereon (circa 1900)
O/P. £65.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

The Master of Omega - Speedmaster - Flightmaster - Speedsonic
Alberto Isnardi

O/P. A comprehensive and detailed guide to the full range of Speedmaster, Flightmaster and Speedsonic wristwatches produced between 1957 and 2006, with illustrations of cases, movements, dials and bracelets. Complete with separate 21-page price guide. Fine copy (hardback) with fine dust jacket; the price guide also in fine condition, card covers. [English & Italian language]

367 pages, well-illustrated, 2006.

£195.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Francillon (A.): Histoire de la Fabrique des Longines - précédée d'un essai sur le Comptoir Agassiz (published 1947)
O/P. £150.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Britten (F.J.): Old English Clocks - The Wetherfield Collection (1st edition, 1907)
O/P. £195.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Cescinsky (H.) & Webster (M.R.): English Domestic Clocks (1st edition, 1913)
O/P. £95.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Green (F.H.): Old English Clocks (1st edition, 1931)
O/P. £295.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Bender (G.):
Die Uhrenmacher des hohen Schwarzwaldes und ihre Werke (2 volumes)
O/P. £175.00 less 25% Order Here * Two copies only *

Mercer (V.): The Frodshams - the Story of a Family of Chronometer Makers
O/P. £245.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Stamford Clocks & Watches
Laurence Tebbutt

O/P. A scarce and useful contribution to knowledge of regional clock & watch making and repairing. A good copy. Card covers, rear cover creased.

173 pages, 106 figures, signed by author, 1975. Copy number 378 of a limited edition of 500.

£75.00 less 25% Order Here * Two copies only *

Surrey Dane (E.: Peter Stubs and the Lancashire Hand Tool Industry
O/P. £30.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

[Waltham]: Watch and Clock Material 1936 Edition
O/P. £35.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Grimthorpe (Lord): A Rudimentary Treatise on Clocks, Watches and Bells (1903)
O/P. £75.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Ungerer (A.) & Ungerer (T.): L'Horloge Astronomique de la Cathédrale de Strasbourg
O/P. £195.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Rees (A.): The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature (5 volumes)
O/P. £175.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Immisch (M.): Prize Essay on the Balance Spring and its Isochronal Adjustments (1872)
O/P. £75.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Hawkes (A.J.): The Clockmakers & Watchmakers of Wigan 1650 - 1850 (1950)
O/P. £95.00 less 25% Order Here * One copy only *

Our retirement from the business leaves Britain without a dedicated specialist horological bookseller for the first time since Malcom Gardner started his business in the 1930's. If you know of anyone thinking of starting up selling horological books, and in need of an opening stock, please tell them to contact us.

With best wishes, Jeff & Ros Formby

Jeffrey Formby Antiques
Specialist in Horological Books & English Clocks
www.formby-clocks.co.uk
Phone UK: (0) 1608 650558