Anna,

Thanks.  We knew about Gurcke who apparently is updating his book on bricks
with Tim Scarlett and has researched a great deal about firebrick since it
first published and has much refined his thinking on the topic.  Thanks also
for the link.

Bill  

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Anna
Lunn
Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 12:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Early Use of Fire Bricks

Bill,

We used Bricks and Brickmakers by Karl Gurcke as a reference for a project
in West Tennessee. It does focus on the Pacific Northwest, but there is good
information about brickmaking (including techniques, equipment, and so on)
from around 1790 onward, including some information about British bricks
that were being used at the time.

Additionally, there are a number of brick societies (both British and
American), and we have generally found them to be helpful in answering
questions. Links to some of these can be found at
http://brickcollecting.com/#links.

I hope that helps.

Sincerely,
Anna Lunn
Archaeologist/Lab Director
Weaver & Associates, LLC
2563 Broad Avenue
Memphis, Tennessee 38112
901.452.7554



On Wed, Jan 21, 2009 at 8:34 AM, Bill Liebeknecht
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Hunter Research is currently excavating the site of the Trenton Steel
Works
> in downtown Trenton, New Jersey in connection with the Capital State Park
> project.  A steel furnace was in operation at this site from the late
1740s
> until the mid-1780s.  We have a 1782 archival reference to firebrick being
> bought for use at the site (we are assuming this material was subsequently
> used for lining the furnace in 1783-84).  Excavations are now beginning to
> recover fragments of glazed and unglazed brick that may be from the
furnace
> structure, but we have little knowledge of what late 18th-century
firebrick
> looks like, where it was made (we suspect somewhere in the Philadelphia
> area), or of the early firebrick industry in general.  Most secondary
> sources appear to place the North American origins of the industry in the
> early 19th century.  Any insights or information about early firebrick
> manufacture in the American colonies, the early Republic or Britain would
> be
> most welcome.  For more background on the site visit www.pettysrun.org;
> excavations are temporarily shut down for the winter and will resume in
the
> spring.
>
> Richard W. Hunter, Ph.D., RPA
> [log in to unmask]
>