Locks and Keys throughout the Ages:

"I am asked many lock questions in the course of a year. The most common one is: ‘where can I learn more about locks and keys?’. This book is what I recommend to collectors to go to first. I personally feel all lock and key collectors should have this book. It contains a mixture of European and American locks and keys across time. It includes lock mechanisms too. This is a quality book in every way; an impressive work” - Robert Dix, Journal of Lock Collecting, (a Publication of the American Lock Collectors Association) Vol 51, N.1, March 2020.
This volume is widely considered the best book ever written on the history of locks. It is illustrated throughout with photos from the Lips’ Collection. It was written in 1957 by Vincent Eras, the director of one of the most important lock manufacturing companies in the world at that time - the Lips’ Safe and Lock Manufacturing Company (now part of the Assa Abloy Group). The author was not only a master locksmith who developed important patents but he was also a collector and was passionate about the history and development of locking mechanisms. His extensive knowledge of the field comes across on every page. In fact, Eras had been in the lock manufacturing business for 58 years before he wrote this book. In the preface he states: “I consider it a gratifying task to place on record my experiences and through this book save them from oblivion. At the same time an excellent opportunity is presented to show the reader my collection of antique and modern locks – the tangible result of more than 50 years travelling, searching and study in many countries”. In over 280 black-and-white photos and drawings Vincent Eras brings us on a grand tour of the development of locks from pre-historic to modern times and he also explains to us, in words and illustrations, how their mechanisms work. This is a high-quality hardcover reprint of the 1957 edition of the book from the publishers of Persian Locks.