"A work of genius . ." - Hugo Wilson, Bike Magazine, June 2017

The Adjustable Spanner is the product of thirty years’ collecting and original research, fired by Ron Geesin’s acquisition of the SLIK that hung in his father’s garage. This dovetailed elegantly into his fascination for mechanisms, from propelling pencils to cylinder phonographs and gramophones – and to the plumb-bobs swinging on his desk.

At car boot sales in the 1980s, Ron was searching for good jazz on 78rpm records when he noticed odd rusty heads poking out of buckets and promptly succumbed to the collector’s disorder. Within these pages is the result of his findings, stemming from the 3,000 UK specimens he has now collected. The Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain – and so did these avidly abused tools, in support of it. No history of adjustable spanners has been written before – predictably, you will say – so here it is.

Ron has researched GB patents from 1841 onwards and delved into the labyrinthine mysteries of Registered Designs at the National Archives, gathering material from manufacturers’ and dealers’ catalogues, leaflets, magazines and trade directories. The expansion of information on the internet, coupled with his previous knowledge of family genealogy, has helped him to research as well the eventful lives of the inventors and makers, filling in some inexcusable gaps in British engineering history.

At the core of this book is a concise history of this much-maligned tool. Serious and comical observations parallel its chequered life, from its bent beginnings in the blacksmith’s shop to over-designed and lovingly engineered treasures from the small Birmingham machinist. Around this core are discussions and findings about components and construction on the practical side, and patents, registered designs and trade marks on the design protection side. The reasons for erratic choices and changes of name are also probed. Emerging from the history, we take a closer look at uses and especially abuses, immerse ourselves in an analysis of types and styles, and dive deeply into the histories of the inventors and makers.

You will be amazed at the engineering diversity required to produce these most fanciful but essential supports to the Industrial Revolution. They are animated sculptures, gossiping to themselves about their misalignment along the timeline of human progress, now clamouring for attention when it’s nearly too late, their pockmarked and worm-eaten corpses holding so much history. [See the video]

 

Ron's GRIPPING TALE of

FORGOTTEN MECHANICAL MARVELS

 

HARDBACK (225x270mm) - 208pp - over 300 photographs

  > > > > >    SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR    < < < < <
HERE ONLY

UK incl. postage: £25  

Europe incl. postage: £32.50 

Rest of World incl. postage: £37.50 

 

 

 

54 photographs from the original EMI Abbey Road sessions

90 photographs in total

22,000 words

- already into its second printing (2013/08/26) - 

 

  > > > > >    SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR    < < < < <

The Flaming Cow offers a rare insight into the brilliant but often fraught collaboration between Pink Floyd and Ron Geesin, the result of which became known as Atom Heart Mother - the Floyd's first UK number one album. From the time drummer Nick Mason visited Geesin's damp basement flat in Notting Hill, to the last game of golf between bassist Roger Waters and Geesin, this book is an unflinching account about how one of Pink Floyd's most celebrated compositions came to life. Alongside unpublished photographs from the Abbey Road recording sessions (the only ones taken) and the subsequent performances in London and Paris, Geesin goes on to describe how the title was chosen, why he was not credited on the record, how he left Hyde Park in tears, and why the group did not much like the work. The Flaming Cow rose again, firstly in France, then in London in 2008. After 40 years Atom Heart Mother remains a much-loved record, and The Flaming Cow explores its new-found cult status that has led to its being studied for the French Baccalaureat.

(UK incl. postage) Book (hardback) £22.60 

(Rest of World incl. postage) Book (hardback) £30