I,too, enjoyed "The Encyclopedia of Knots and Fancy Rope Work" by Graumont and Hensel.
There needs to be some explanation of what this
"enjoy"ment is, exactly. For Hensel&Gretel's make-believe
world of knots has
1) just so much outright rubbish & nonsense in it,
2) complemented by so little of any sort of explanation of the presented knots,
3) accented by the often-poor-photos presentations
(and ambiguous indication of tail vs. SPart),
that enjoyment is not a proper response,
unless one sought tragicomedy!
But there are some oddball things in there that can lead
one into interesting What-ifs; and sometimes maybe a hint
of clue to who-said-what-where (their specious wealth of
knotting doesn't come with a bibliography) --such as some
of the origins of the Wot?knot & Bushby's source "H."/"Haslope 1901"!
2011 update: The more I've referred and looked into this book,
the more disgusted I've become at how appallingly bad it is re any practical knotting.
I leave my rating at Two Stars only because there seems to be some value to it
asserted by decorative/fancy knot tyers, and I'm not interested in trying to assess
that value (though I would ask about whether the accuracy or lack of is any different
than the bad state it is for practical knots).
Page after page, Plate after Plate of often bad/unclear photographs,
one will be continually asking "Why is THIS supposed 'knot' presented?!"
Seldom --SELDOM-- does the text provide anything helpful.
And the supposed knots mostly exist only in the minds of the authors and these pages;
many are quite comical, as are the names given to them.
In sharp contrast, Ashley at least provides some information about most of what he presents,
and his collection has knots that actually work.
I'm abashed to have taken so long to have realized
Hensel & Gretel's book's worth. Too long it had been
a big-book on my shelf, too little seriously explored,
w/undeserved belief that such a big, long-lived (4th ed.!)
book MUST be worthwhile.
--dl*
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