The Creation of a Turret Clock

My deuce coup...

  I scored two major book finds for my clock this evening.  I was bored in the hotel so decided to head out to a bookstore.  The first book I found of interest was a book called "Coal: A Human History."  I had actually seen this book before but I had never really looked at it.  Well, I finally sat down in the bookstore to take a look at it.  The most important aspect of the book for me was the first part.  It went into the history of the coal industry in medieval England.

  Like many SCA smiths, I had assumed that the primary fuel used in England was charcoal.  However, the book clearly documents that by the 13th-14th century, the primary fuel in use in the cities by blacksmiths was coal.  So, I don't need to justify the use of coal when I finally start my version of the clock.

  The second book, which was the real shocker, which I almost missed is called "God's Clockmaker: Richard of Wallingford and the Invention of Time.".  I almost dropped a load right on the spot.  The book was just published this year and is a biography of one of the earliest medieval clockmakers.  This was such a stroke of pure luck.  I always look for books that might be helpful to the clock but this was a real find.