" Hunting Firearms, Artworks of Gunsmiths from the 17th to the 19th Century" by Erhard Wolf

 
Erhard Wolf, member of the NMLRA and author of the book "Flintlock Jaeger Rifles, Masterpieces of Eighteenth-Century Gunmkers",
has published another comprehensive illustrated book entitled " Hunting Firearms, Artworks of Gunsmiths from the 17th to the 19th Century.
Information about the book can be found at the following website:

https://jaegerbuechsen.com/en/home-2/

Copy and photos supplied by Contemporary Makers' European Correspondent, Manfred Schmitz.

44th Tennessee Kentucky Rifle Show: Bone Tipped & Banded Horns Volume II by Jay Hopkins

Volume II – Jay Hopkins’ greatly anticipated Volume II of his Bone Tipped & Banded Horns book is published.  Those who have seen the contents of Volume II feel this edition is even better and more interesting than the first volume thus making Volume II a “must have book” for your personal library.  All collectors of powder horns and Kentucky rifles will greatly benefit from having this book in their library.

This second volume continues his 50-year study concentrating on regional characteristics of professionally made powder horns from the southern US.  It has been significantly augmented by collaboration and cooperation with other collectors, students, and museums. The focus of Volume II is on powder horns of the south including North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.This volume will be hardbound with approximately 320 pages, over 140 powder horns featured and over 600 full color images. Each horn is illustrated, measured in multiple parameters and the various materials and woods identified.  Then, pertinent history and biographical information is included, as well as an analysis of the horn and its origin.

Volume II is $79.95, plus $10.00 postage

This book will be for sale at the 44th Tennessee Kentucky Rifle Show so hopefully you can save on postage. For those not attending the show can go here  on the Horn Guild site to purchase.

Bone Tipped & Banded Horns - Volume II Regional Characteristics of Professionally Made Powder Horns By Jay Hopkins

 Bone Tipped & Banded Horns - Volume II

Regional Characteristics of Professionally Made Powder Horns

North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas

By Jay Hopkins
Published by The Honourable Company of Horners

Dear Horn Guild Member, Collector and Kentucky Rifle Aficionado: 

Jay Hopkins greatly anticipated Volume II of his Bone Tipped & Banded Horns book is ready for publication.  Initial distribution is set for March of 2022!  Those who have seen the contents of Volume II feel this edition is even better and more interesting than the first volume thus making Volume II a “must have book” for your personal library.  All collectors of powder horns and Kentucky rifles will greatly benefit from having this book in their library. 

This second volume continues his 50-year study concentrating on regional characteristics of professionally made powder horns from the southern US.  It has been significantly augmented by collaboration and cooperation with other collectors, students, and museums. The focus of Volume II is on powder horns of the south including North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. 

This volume will be hardbound with approximately 320 pages, over 140 powder horns featured and over 600 full color images. Each horn will be illustrated, measured in multiple parameters and the various materials and woods identified.  Then, pertinent history and biographical information will be included, as well as an analysis of the horn and its origin.

Many have been asking when Volume II will be ready as they have strong interest in helping to assure this book is produced. For those interested, a special Limited Edition and autographed copy of Volume II will be available with sponsorship for $135.00, plus $10.00 S&H if not picked up in person. This exclusive limited-edition book will feature a matching slip case that will keep the book pristine. Each sponsor’s name will be listed in the "Sponsor Section" of this volume.

A standard copy of Volume II may also be pre-ordered, assuring that individual of receiving their copy immediately upon publication.  Price for a standard pre-ordered Volume II is $79.95, plus $10.00 S&H.

Simply complete the enclosed order form indicating your ordering preference and mail it with your payment made out to “HCH” at:

HCH Book Order, 847 Thrash Road, LaGrange, GA 30241

Please note: For your name as a Sponsor to be included in Volume II, your payment must be received no later than December 19, 2021

Sincerely,

Art DeCamp

HCH Publishing Committee 

Volume II

Special Edition Sponsor & Book Pre-Order

Order Form

Bone Tipped & Banded Horns Vol. II
Regional Characteristics of Professionally Made Powder Horns

North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas

By Jay Hopkins
Published by The Honourable Company of Horners

 

Note: Delivery is expected to be in early 2022.  Save $$ on shipping by picking your copy up at the Horn Guild Annual meeting.  If you want the book shipped to you be sure to include payment for shipping.

Item	Price	Total
Special Edition Sponsorship   Book and Slip Case	$135.00
Special Edition shipping	$10.00
Pre-order Regular edition book (Plus $10.00 shipping)	$79.95
Regular Edition shipping	$10.00
	Grand Total

 

How do you want the "sponsor" to be listed? For example Jim Brown or In Memory of James Madison Smith

 

Your contact information:	Phone:	Email:
Where do you want the book mailed?
Name:
Address:	City:		State:	Zip:

Please mail a check or money order, made out to “HCH” to: 

HCH Book Order

847 Thrash Road

LaGrange, GA 30241

Please Note: In order for your name as a Sponsor to be included in Volume II, your payment must be received no later than December 19, 2021.

"The Longrifle Makers of the Salem School" C. Michael Briggs and Blake Stevenson

The following are exerts from the introduction to the book :

“Longrifles have been an important part of Salem culture since the very beginning. The Moravian records describe how Andreas Hoger, Peter Boehler, and Herman Loesch traveled in 1754 from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to assist in creating the Moravians’ first settlement in the southern colony. An architect, a builder, and a surveyor, Hogar had been sent from Europe to surey the church’s recently acquired tract of nearly 100,000 acres, called Wachovia.

Hoger’s finished survey featured an ornately drawn cartouche at the bottom right displaying  a flintlock rifle and a surveyor’s rod lying in front of a shot deer. Today Hoger’s survey provides us with the earliest representation of a Moravian firearm in North Carolina.

In this book, the authors Michael Briggs and Blake Stevenson demonstrate how the relationship of the Moravians to longrifles did not end with Andreas Hoger. Wachovia became a center of the early gunsmithing trade with talented craftsmen like Andreas Betz, Valentine Beck, and Jacob Loesch. In the nineteenth century, smiths like Herman Buyner and Elias Schaub continued the trade in Bethania, while the Vogler family of ingenious craftsmen craftsmen working in Salem – Christoph, Nathanial, Timothy, and John – elevated it from craft to industry. The Salem rifle became a “gold standard” for early southern rifles that influenced the style of non-Moravian craftsmen within a wide radius.”

Robert Leath, Chief Curator and Senior Director, Collections, Research & Archeology, Old Salem Museums and Gardens.

The following are exerts from Briggs foreword to the book:

“The goal of this book is to provide a clear picture of the longrifles made by the Moravian gunsmiths of the Wachovia tract in North Carolina.

We are lucky the Moravians were great record keepers. The records provide an accurate history of who the gunsmiths were in Bethabara, Bethania, and Salem. It is the goal of the authors to provide the records as we have found them.”

C. Michael Briggs

We recently received a copy of "The Longrifle Makers of the Salem School" for our review. The historic overview is outstanding. The reader is provided with a wealth of information regarding the Moravians’ religion and culture. The artistic elements of the school are also well covered. The history of longrifle making in Wachovia is intensive. In addition a discussion of RCA 42 from George Shumway’s book “Rifles of Colonial America is most interesting. Insights are to be gained from  discussions between Eric Kettenberg, S.P. Gordon, and Bob Lienemann. An in depth look at the makers is most enlightening. There are a number of pages devoted to the subject.

In addition to the invaluable historical and biographical information there are page after page of full color images of the rifles. Each rifle has multiple views. There are literally hundreds of images. The rifles are grouped as follows: The Early Years, The Vogler Years – Signed Rifles, The Vogler Years – Unigned Rifles, The Later Years, Rifles From Bethania, Salem Boy’s Rifles, Area Gunsmiths Influenced by the Voglers, In addition there are photos of Salem Pistols, Salem Powder Horns, and Powder Horns from Wachovia.

The author also offers some of his own observations and questions for future historians.

An appendix by Kenneth Orr offers insights on Salem triggers versus Davidson triggers. The trigger photography is outstanding. Appendix 2 provides a look at the Salem School by Blake Stevenson, Appendix 3 looks at Why the Eagle Patchbox Finial. Appendix 4 features a number of  photos of homes, gunsmiths, and tombstones. Other Appendixes deal with the tang configuration of Salem rifles versus Davidson Rifles, Wachovia Gun Shop Inventory records, a Salem rifle at the Smithsonian, John Bivins’ notes on a Vogler rifle at the Greensboro Historical Museum, a discussion regarding the maker of RCA No. 42 with Wallace Gusler, Eric Kettenburg, Mel Hankla and Frank House, Michael Briggs and Blake Stevenson, Christoph Vogler’s estate day book, Moravian Artisans in North Carolina: A brief study primarily relative to the firearms trade by Eric Kettenburg, the book concludes with a look at the last Salem School rifle.

This is a fine and highly informative book. It’s a large volume consisting of 374 pages. All the information is invaluable.  Well done Briggs and Stevenson!

Michael Briggs

103 Battle Road, Greensboro N.C. 27410

$80. hardcover plus $6. postage

$60. softcover plus $5. postage

Review by Art Riser.

"Into the Bluegrass" by Mel Hankla

The new publication  "Into the Bluegrass" by Mel Hankla is a grand visual and literary compilation of Kentucky folk art and Kentucky history.

With wonderful stories and artifacts, the author has seamlessly unified Kentucky as the background of a truly original American culture. 

Hardbound 330 pages.

Robert Weil

Bone Tipped & Banded Horns by Dr. Jay Hopkins

This review is from "The Horn Book", the magazine of the Honourable Company of Horners. 

Kentucky Rifles of the Great Smoky Mountains by Randal Pierce

This book is a documentation of the Kentucky Rifle Foundation sponsored exhibit held at the Great Smoky Heritage Center in Townsend, TN.  The exhibit showcases southern mountain rifles from Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina.  It contains over 175 full-color high resolution photographs of the 23 rifles, 3 pistols, accessories, and rifle dimensions in an 8 X 11 inch format.  

Available for $25.00, plus $5.00 packaging and shipping, in cash, check, or money order.  Send orders to:

Randal Pierce

963 Hitch Rd.
Maryville, TN  37804 

"Moravian Gunmaking II - Bethlehem to Christian's Spring" by Robert Lienemann

Moravian Gunmaking II focuses narrowly on arms that were – or may have been made at the gunshop set up at Bethlehem in 1750, which then moved ca 1759 – 1763 to Christian’s Spring – a small community where young men and boys learned trades in support of their mission work.  The gunshop there was very active during several wars, but it and the broader vocational effort had faded by 1790.  

Signed William Henry, Jr. / Nazareth Pair of Pistols

Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent

“The signature of W:Henry Jr together with Nazareth suggest that these pistols were made after 1780 when young Henry moved and set up shop there, but before the death of his father William Henry of Lancaster in late 1786.”

“These pistols carry their original hickory ramrods.”

The book is now available on the Kentucky Rifle Foundation's website under the Store. You can order online with PayPal, credit card or with a check by mail. The book sells for $85.00 plus $8.95 S&H. Proceeds support the KRF mission of broadening the knowledge and appreciation of the American longrifle. Descriptions of all KRF books, CDs, and ordering information can be found at: kentuckyriflefoundation.org (or send check or money order to: Kentucky Rifle Foundation, 844 Round Hill Rd, Winchester, VA 22602)

Copy and photos supplied by by Robert Lienemann.

Pistol photos by Kenneth Orr.