Italian or spanish navaja old knife ?

[Chris Evans]

Originally Posted by kronckew

Chris, One piece of the Puzzle, this is the dust cover of the book. I do not have a copy, tho my spanish reading friend does. Maybe he will offer some examples of misleading descriptives. I'm just the middle man stirring the hornet's nest for them and warning 'Caveat Emptor'.

Thanks for that, and I do have a copy.

This is what we may call a coffee table book, with 237 photographs of single and groups of fine collectable navajas sorted by origin of locality, mostly from within Spain but also including France, Italy, broader Europe, the Orient and Sundry. Each photograph carries a short commentary on the knives portrayed in both Spanish and English.

I cannot pass judgement on the accuracy of the alleged origin and dating of many of the navajas presented but will reiterate what I already said in my post #27, i.e. that their positive identification, in the absence of maker's brand and date, is by necessity a guessing game, all too often based on community consensus.

As well, in the Prologue, the author acknowledges the many difficuties involved due to lack of access to many archives, the loss of documentation and the passing of time.

Even when the knife carries a brand, as exemplified by the ubiquitous wares of Valero Jun, of Zaragoza, their true origin remains unknown (most probably Thiers in France), because it was, and remains, a widespread practice in the cutlery industry to commission the fabrication of knives with contractors and then inscribing them with the vendor's logo or brand.

And on top of all this we have the additional problem of brand falsification by unscrupulous cutlers, once a very common practice.

My general view of the book is that it is as reliable as any Spanish or English source in print and far better than most, and if it does contain some verifiable errors which do not come down to mere opinions (as re Valero Jun), then these must treated as editorial in origin.

What would be a great service to collectors is if someone has indeed found such errors, then compile an errata and post it somewhere on the web.

Cheers
Chris