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Two Bargeon knives from Italy with stainless-steel blades.
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BEAUTIFUL BLADES
A genuine slice of life
By Pattarawadee Saengmanee
Daily Xpress
Published on May 8, 2008
Hone your knife knowledge with a guide to the one in your pocket
European history from caveman days to the present gets dissected with skill in a book you wouldn't normally turn to for this sort of thing - "Collectible Pocket Knives". The latest edition of the popular guide packs in more than 500 colour photographs. Newbies in the subject will be amazed at just how far the humble penknife has come. The first "knives" were, of course, just rocks with sharp edges banged onto one side. But 5,000 years ago, what Cro-Magnon man had sawed his mastodon meat with became a serious weapon in the hands of Egyptian ironsmiths. Pocket knives came along with the cutlery industry, utility trumping violence from Japan to England in the 18th century. Today the tiny town of Laguiole in southwest France is considered the home of the world's finest cutlery, while Americans insist that you still need a California buck knife when you encounter a grizzly bear. Buck was apparently the original manufacturer, and the carved ivory handle represents a nun!
XTRA
Careful with the edges >> "Collectible Pocket Knives" by Dominique Pascal is published by Flammarion and is available at Asia Books for Bt650.
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