Beskrivning
’It is a prodigy. It fascinates, but defies the reviewer who tackles it. He will spend hours over it, and do nothing except study its drawings again. Can a book on knots be amusing? Mr Ashley is not only a sailor, but a marine artist, so he proves this to be as easy for him as decorative marlinspike seamanship He describes every practical knot, what it looks like, who uses it, where it comes from, and how to tie it. He gives us no fewer than 7,000 drawings representing nearly 4,000 knots… When all the most difficult rarities of shipboard were learned, he turned to other occupations-butchers, steeplejacks, electric linesmen, knitters, cobblers, truck drivers, surgeons making fast their stitches, poachers’ traps and snares, and cowboys with their lashings and lariats: till nothing was left; absolutely nothing. Knots, in the world of books, have thus been tied for ever.”
Observer
”Sailors, of course, are the greatest users of rope, but they have no monopoly of the art. The author describes knots used in over ninety other occupations, even to the cord knots and tassels of a Chinese priest. Alphabetically, from Archer to Yachtsman, or aesthetically, from Florist to Hangman-they all make use of knots: Mr Ashley’s book is unique, and for generations will be a monument to his industry and patience. It includes a bibliography and glossary as well as an index, and, whether for study or pleasure, it is a mine of information” Marine Magazine
