North Coast Imports, Inc.

I love Dug North's Blog . In case you don't already follow it, here are some noteworthy recent posts - for lovers of clocks and mechanical automata. Here's a beautiful and artistic piece from Levi van Veluw An analog clock in a digital world : This eye-boggling piece was recently featured in Clocks Magazine . Another book for your library... The mechanical clock, at least in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, with its rational design and regular running, demonstrated an orderliness lacking in almost every aspect of life at that time. The clock came to offer an explanation for the mysterious workings of the cosmos: living creatures were in fact automata, and the universe itself was an enormous clockwork... Another great clockwork sculpture: There is truly some fascinating and beautiful stuff out there.  Follow this blog and Dug's blog for constant updates on the world of clockwork art!

Here's a nice article about our friend Justin and his NEW BOOK! From the article: Collectors Weekly : Was Johann Baptist Beha a well-known clockmaker? Miller : Yes, he’s definitely the most prominent cuckoo clockmaker in the Black Forest, and his clocks are collected aggressively. His clocks are usually regarded as the pinnacle of cuckoo clock making, whether deservedly or not. If you look at Black Forest clocks as a whole, a lot of them were very cheaply done. They were made for middle- or lower middle-class customers, and most manufacturers were competing with each other, racing to have the lowest price. And how do you lower price? Well, you cut quality and you cut costs. One of Miller's most exotic clocks is a cuckoo with a three-train movement and a life-size bird perched on top, designed by Johann Baptist Beha around 1880. But Beha basically said, “We’re not going to race to the bottom. We’re going to make clocks of high quality for people who can afford them...

Schiffer LTD . has just released a new book on the subject of Black Forest Horology. It promises to be a lovely book with great pictures and information on very rare clocks. You'll probably recognize a few clocks that have been featured here on GermanClocks.org, as well as our online museum at www.NorthCoastImports.com/museum . Pre-order Rare and Unusual Black Forest Clocks, by Justin Miller at the author's website.

Now that's impressive... According to propmaker Dick George Creative's website , two of the models of the central-figure automaton actually worked! The automata actually drew Georges Melies's image without the use of CGI. The Automaton - Behind the Scenes from Sociates on Vimeo .

I finally had a chance to see the movie " Hugo " which is a film adaptation of Brian Selznick's book - which we've had on our reading list here for a long time. Best Movie Of All Time? Probably not, but definitely worth the watch (pun intended) for any clock nuts (and Clockworkpunks)! I loved the shots of Hugo's dad working on the two Orrerys. Did you see our NEW Orrery by the way?

We've had The Invention of Hugo Cabret on our reading list for a while now. Good news is that Martin Scorcese is working on a movie adaptation! It's a story about a mechanical automaton, and a loose narrative on the life of Georges Méliès. [via io9 ]

Here's a new book, recommended by Dug North at the Automata Blog : This unique book traces the evolution of singing birds from antiquity to modern times, with particular attention to the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, the "Golden Age" of mechanical singing birds - Jaquet-Droz, Leschot and Rochat were the most famous artists of this period - the first part of the book deals with the transformation of singing birds during the Renaissance period into an instrument of bird imitation during the 17th and 18th centuries - rich color iconography of subjects selected from museums and private collections all over the world, with several yet unpublished pieces (over 500) - an indispensable reference for collectors, specialists and for those as yet unacquainted.

From Automata Blog : Here is a book on vintage automata that covers the many types of automata and some of the most prominent makers of the past. The book is no longer in print, but can easily be ordered used .

The following is a post in from our friend John, who emailed me: "Frühe Kuckucksuhren. Entwicklungsgeschichte der Schwarzwälder Kuckucksuhr von 1750 bis 1850". In this book Dr. Schneider includes a vast amount of new, original research regarding the history of early Black Forest clocks, clockmakers and their families (many of whose ancestors no longer survive). I have personally found the contents of this book to be essential to the identification of one of my clocks made by the long forgotten Eisenbach clockmaker Johann GEORG Beha. It is my hope that those of you (like me!) that struggle outside the English language will find this summary helpful. Moreover, in the interest of highlighting the contents of this book in the most concise form, I have forgone the formality of proper English and adopted the outline form: Selected topics summary of "Frühe Kuckucksuhren. Entwicklungsgeschichte der Schwarzwälder Kuckucksuhr von 1750 bis 1850": 1) This book contains ...