This is a NEW hardcover book by Jane Rees & Mark Rees

The book focuses on the measuring tools used by tradesmen and professionals in their everyday work, on the trades in which specific tools were used and how these tools were made and by whom. The intention is that the information contained here will be of use to collectors and researchers by explaining how the measuring devices were used and by placing them in a trade and social context

Jane and Mark Rees started work on this book ten years ago. Sadly, Mark did not live to see its completion but it is still very much a book written by them both. Jane has worked to complete this since Mark's passing in 2001 – this book is a fitting memorial to him

Some reviews:

"This is an outstanding labor of love dealing with those most diverse and beautiful tools of the craftsman: measures and rules. With extensive text and copiously illustrated, it deals in detail with both their design and manufacture, and their application to the different trades and crafts and will be the standard reference on the subject for the foreseeable future.
Philip Stanley, The Analytical Engine, Worchester, Massachusetts, USA.."

"Jane Rees and her late husband, Mark, are the ideal authors to write a definitive book on English Rules, with the noted breadth and depth of their knowledge. They cover the subject both broadly in terms of history and manufacture and in minute detail, covering obsolete and obscure trades (which all seemed to have their own specialized scales) as well as more familiar rules. They have even managed to sort out the tangled Rabone legacy in Birmingham........"
Don & Anne Wing, Authors and tool dealers, Marion, Massachusetts, USA