Books

  • Keys and Locks in the Collection of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum. Available for free reading at the Smithsonian’s online library: +
  • On the Development and Distribution of Primitive Locks and Keys – Illustrated by Specimens in the Pitt-Rivers Collection – 1883. Available for free reading at Archive.org: +
  • The Lure of the Lock : A short treatise on locks to elucidate the John M Mossman Collection of locks in the Museum of The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen in the City of New York. Published 1928. Reprinted 1954. +
  • Keys and Locks Collection of Raf Declercq. ISBN 10: 9090183043. ISBN 13: 9789090183046. Published 2005. 224 pages. Written in Dutch, French, and English.
  • Antique Locks from the Collection of Josiah Parkes & Sons Ltd. 43 pages. Published in 1955.
  • Des Clefs et des Hommes. 125 Pages. Written in French.
  • Prunkstucke Art Treasures: from the Hanns Schell Collection. Written by Martina Pall. Published in 2005. Limited to 2500 copies.  The website for the collection is here:
  • Locks: A Collection of Masterpieces (Serrature: Una Collezione Di Capolavori). Written by Allesandro and Fiorenzo Cesati. Published in 2007. Written in Italian and English. 96 pages. Limited to 1000 copies.
  • Decorative Antique Ironwork: A Pictorial Treasury. Written by Henry Rene D’Allemagne. Contains illustrations of thousands of pieces, many from the Le Secq des Tournelles Museum of Rouen. Published in 1924 and republished since then.
  • Schloss & Schlüssel: Bestandskatalog der Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin, Sammlung des Märkischen Museums Taschenbuch – 1995
  • Historische Schlüssel und Schlösser im Germanischen Nationalmuseum. Bestandskatalog. 2. erw. Aufl.by Manfred Welker
  • 古早中國鎖具之美 (The beauty of the old days, Chinese locks) by the National Science and Technology Museum in Taiwain (Chinese and English)
  • Schloss und Schlüssel über 2000 Jahre Geschichte in Bildern http://www.msd-kilian.de/Buch_Schloss_und_Schluessel.pdf (German)
  • Early Locks and Lockmakers of America by Tom Hennessy
  • Ancient Locks: The Evolutionary Development of the Lock and Key by Scott Klemm
  • Unlocking the Portals of History by Scott Klemm  
  • Early Combination Padlocks by Jon Millington. 2010  
  • Keys: Their history and collection by Eric Monk  
  • Des Clefs et des Hommes by Marc Feldman (French)  
  • Guardian rare treasure ancient lock, an eye-opener! Long article about chinese locks http://www.360doc.com/content/15/0607/22/17132703_476416679.shtml
  • Serrures du Pays Dogon. 223 pages.  
  • Locks From Iran: Pre-Islamic to Twentieth Century. Written by Parviz Tanavoli and John T Wertime. 151 Pages. Published in 1976 by the Smithsonian Institute.  
  • Die Stadtwüstung Nienover im Solling. Studien zur Sachkultur einer hochmittelalterlichen Gründungsstadt im südlichen Niedersachsen. (Materialhefte zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte Niedersachsens 39). 1. Aufl. by Sonja König.

    • Description per a bookseller translated from German to English using Google Translate: This book is the first of three that deal with findings, findings [topography, construction, attachment] and overall monitoring of prospecting and excavations of 1993-2001, which were carried out mainly in the center and western half of the oldest city of the Solling. The city with the same named castle lay on a landscape dominant spur and is historically only 1318/1320 as “civitas” and in the hall called “old town” tangible. The research yielded 52,622 individual finds, of which 50 355 Ceramic, 1,164 of iron, non-ferrous metal 149, 283 made of stone, 68 of slag and 18 are made of glass. The ceramic traces the forms and types of goods development of 1180-1270. Among the iron finds, inter alia, are Nails, hardware, locks, horseshoes, bridles, weapons and keys against in ferrous metal finds vessels, pendants, buckles, scales, coins, weights, etc. For stone whetstones and grindstones, cover and hand mills are mentioned. From glass existed as Rib cups and beads. The finds can be divided into five phases, which range from the pre- to nachstädtischen time and include three large fires in the town.

Magazines

  • Antique Collector February 1985-Early Locks & Keys
  • ANTIQUES JOURNAL Magazine – APRIL 1970 – Has a section on “Old Keys”

Other

  • Key Mysteries by Steve Drury (Available for purchase here)
    • “Key Mysteries is a unique study into Keys in magick and mystery entertainment.” This unique book takes a look at the use of keys in magic, with two sections. The first features a look at the symbolism of keys and their historical uses in magic. The second features about two dozen routines all utilizing keys in some way. With contributions by many famous magicians and positive reviews, this book should please those, both magicians and non-magicians alike. – NOTE: Please do not read the book if you do not want to spoil the impact of the magical routines detailed inside. For more info https://www.mysteryentertainerproducts.com/mysteries
  • The Paper Locksmith: A Collection of Locks to Cut Out and Glue Together. 2007. Written by Rob Ives. ISBN 10: 1899618031

Reference Material Vendors and Searches

http://www.hawleylocksupply.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=HLS&Category_Code=BKU http://www.antiqbook.com/search.php?action=search&l=en&owner_id=&full=Sluitwerk http://www.zvab.com/servlet/SearchResults?kn=Schl%F6sser+und+Schl%FCssel&sts=t Largest German Museum Library Online Search http://webopac.gnm.de/aDISWeb/app?service=direct/0/Home/$DirectLink&sp=Sserver-bib.gnm.de:5105 . More info (In English) can be found here: http://www.gnm.de/en/museum/departments-and-contact-points/library/ Bookfinder.com to help find books http://www.eurobuch.com/ to help find books in Germany http://www.kongfz.com/ to help find books in China http://image.so.com/ Chinese image search site (Ex search: http://image.so.com/i?q=%E5%8F%A4%E9%94%81&src=srp) http://baidu.com Chinese search engine http://www.360doc.com/ Chinese Scribd.com equivalent