Edward Duffield - by Bob Frishman (Hardcover)

About the Book

"This book details the life and work of Edward Duffield, a clockmaker in eighteenth-century Philadelphia. The present volume is more than a comprehensive catalogue of Duffield's clocks and scientific instruments. It places his life in the context of the competitive environment in which he operated."

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"[Frishman] is a wonderful storytellter and he has a talent for weaving the history of the day with events in the life of Duffield."--Patty MacLeish "Shavings, the online newsletter of the Early American Industries Association"

"From his written works, like Edward Duffield: Philadelphia Clockmaker, Citizen, Gentleman, 1730-1803 to his public lectures, Frishman's zeal and knowledge about early American clockmaking and clockmakers is apparent."--Kathryn Sullivan "Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association"

"In Edward Duffield, Frishman offers us a truly definitive work, not just on an individual clockmaker, but on the world in which that man lived. It draws connections across many aspects of the horological, political, commercial, social and religious life of the earliest years of the nation, and is highly recommended reading for anyone who is interested in horological or American history -- or both!"-- "Horological Times"

"With its first-rate photography and long and useful bibliography, it should be on every library shelf."-- "Maine Antique Digest"

"[Frishman], who has been 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 man, a city, and an era."-- "The British Watch & Clock Makers Guild"

"[It's] refreshing that the author fully integrated the life of Edward Duffield into the historical events of the time...if you enjoy reading about American history or colonial clockmaking, this book should be in your library."-- "Watch & Clock Bulletin"

"Not only does Frishman's book detail the context in which Duffield worked and the professional craftsmen he interacted with, but [it] also gives a comprehensive account of the social spheres Duffield inhabited."-- "Antiques and The Arts Weekly"

"With over forty years as a horologist and some 140 published articles, Bob Frishman is abundantly qualified to relate Duffield's story."-- "Antiquarian Horology"

About the Author

Bob Frishman was introduced to horology--the science of timekeeping--on Thanksgiving Day, 1980, when he was invited into the overflowing cellar of a collector and dealer of antique clocks, watches, tools, and machinery. Had Bob stayed home that day, or not left the holiday dining table and gone down those basement stairs, this book would not have been written.

Nor would Bob's other horological efforts during the past four decades ever have happened: eight thousand mechanical clocks repaired; two thousand antique clocks and watches restored and sold; hundred-plus articles and reviews published; hundred-plus in-person and virtual lectures delivered to horological and general audiences here and abroad; annual NAWCC symposia organized at the Winterthur Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Henry Ford Museum, and the Museum of the American Revolution; and exhibits created and mounted by him at venues including the Horological Society of New York and the Willard House & Clock Museum.

Bob is a Silver Star Fellow of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers in London. As a dedicated supporter of other venerable cultural institutions, he is a Proprietor of the Boston Athenaeum, holder of Share Number 8 of the Library Company of Philadelphia, a member of the Grolier Club, the American Antiquarian Society, and the Ross Society of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

He continues to operate Bell-Time Clocks in Andover, Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife, author Jeanne Schinto.