The Ashley Book of Knots

Although Ashley was an esteemed painter, the cover illustration was painted by George Giguere. It shows a sailor displaying a Tom fool's knot.

Reprint-Version: 1963–1979

The Ashley Book of Knots is an encyclopedia of knots written and illustrated by the American artist Clifford W. Ashley. First published in 1944, it was the culmination of over 11 years of work. The book contains more than 3800 numbered entries and an estimated 7000 illustrations.^[1] The entries include knot instructions, uses, and some histories, categorized by type or function. It remains one of the most important and comprehensive books on knots.

Use as a reference

Due to its scope and wide availability The Ashley Book of Knots has become a significant reference work in the field of knotting. The numbers Ashley assigned to each knot can be used to unambiguously identify them. This helps to identify knots despite local colloquialisms or identification changes. Citations to Ashley numbers are usually in the form: "The Constrictor Knot (ABOK #1249)", "ABOK #1249" or even simply "#1249" if the context of the reference is clear or already established.^[2] The book title is also found abbreviated in the forms: TABOK, TABoK or ABoK.

Some knots have more than one Ashley number due to having multiple uses or forms. For example, the main entry for #1249 is in the chapter on binding knots but it is also listed as #176 in a chapter on occupational knot usage.

The Ashley Book of Knots was published in the days of natural fiber cordage; the commentary on some knots may fail to address their behavior when tied in modern synthetic fiber ropes.

Corrections and additions

Ashley suffered a debilitating stroke the year after his magnum opus was published.^[3] He was not able to produce an erratum or oversee a corrected edition. Corrections submitted by the International Guild of Knot Tyers were incorporated in 1991.^[4]^[5] The original list of revisions submitted to the publisher is believed to have been lost, but many had been collected from a series of articles in Knotting Matters, the Guild's quarterly publication.^[6]^[7] Additional errors have been identified since the 1991 corrections.^[8]

At least one knot, the Hunter's bend (#1425A), was added in 1979.^[9]

Notes and references

↑ Ashley, Clifford W. (1993) [1944], The Ashley Book of Knots, New York: Doubleday, p. Dust jacket, ISBN 0-385-04025-3
↑ Warner, Charles; Turner, John (1996), Turner, J.C.; van de Griend, P., eds., History and Science of Knots, K&E Series on Knots and Everything 11, Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, pp. 22, 274–275, ISBN 981-02-2469-9
↑ Budworth, Geoffrey, ed. (Spring 1985). "Profile of Knotsman Clifford W. Ashley". Knotting Matters (London: International Guild of Knot Tyers) (11): 6–7. ISSN 0959-2881.
↑ Budworth, Geoffrey (Autumn 1991). "Amending Ashley". Knotting Matters (London: International Guild of Knot Tyers) (37): 26. ISSN 0959-2881.
↑ Ashley(1993), p. Edition notice
↑ Schmidbauer, Joseph, ed. (September 1998), "The Ashley Book of Knots: Corrections and Observations", Knot News (International Guild of Knot Tyers - Pacific Americas Branch) (13): 1–3
↑ The Knotting Matters issues cited in the above Knot News article are: KM1, KM28, KM31, KM32, and KM33.
↑ For an example see the footnotes in harness loop and butterfly loop articles. Additionally, this IGKT posting contains many verifiable examples.
↑ Ashley(1993), pp. 260–261

Bends	Adjustable bend Albright special Alpine butterfly bend Ashley's bend Basket weave knot Beer knot Blood knot Carrick bend Double fisherman's knot Fisherman's knot Flemish bend Grief knot Halyard bend Harness bend Heaving line bend Hunter's bend Nail knot One-sided overhand bend Racking bend Sheet bend Shoelace knot Shroud knot Simple Simon under Single carrick bend Surgeon's knot Surgeon's loop Triple fisherman's knot True lover's knot Water knot Zeppelin bend Zeppelin loop

Binding	Boa knot Bottle sling Constrictor knot Corned beef knot Granny knot Ground-line hitch Jamming knot Miller's knot Packer's knot Reef knot Strangle knot Thief knot Transom knot

Climbing	Alpine butterfly knot Autoblock Bachmann knot Beer knot Bowline on a bight Directional figure eight Double anchorman knot Double bowline Farmer's loop Figure-eight knot Figure-eight loop Figure-of-nine loop Friction hitch Klemheist knot Munter hitch Overhand loop Prusik Trident loop Yosemite bowline

Coils	Alpine coil Butterfly coil

Decorative	Carrick mat Chinese button knot Celtic button knot Diamond knot Fiador knot Friendship knot Matthew Walker knot Turk's head knot Wall and crown knot

Fishing (angling)	Angler's loop Arbor knot Bimini twist Blood knot Fisherman's knot Half blood knot Improved clinch knot Knotless knot Nail knot Palomar knot Snell knot Trilene knot Triple fisherman's knot Turle knot Uni knot

Hitches	Adjustable grip hitch Anchor bend Axle hitch Bachmann knot Bale sling hitch Barrel hitch Becket hitch Blackwall hitch Blake's hitch Boom hitch Buntline hitch Cat's paw Clove hitch Cow hitch Double overhand noose Falconer's knot Farrimond friction hitch Friction hitch Garda hitch Gripping Sailor's hitch Ground-line hitch Half hitch Halter hitch Highpoint hitch Highwayman's hitch Hitching tie Icicle hitch Improved clinch knot Killick hitch Knute hitch Lobster buoy hitch Marlinespike hitch Munter hitch Ossel hitch Pile hitch Snuggle hitch Swing hitch Taut-line hitch Timber hitch

Loop	Angler's loop Artillery loop Bale sling hitch Bowline Bumper knot Carrick bend loop Cowboy bowline Diamond knot Double bowline Dropper loop Eskimo bowline Fiador knot Fireman's chair knot Friendship knot loop Halter hitch Handcuff knot Honda knot Jury mast knot Overhand loop Portuguese bowline Rigid double splayed loop in the bight Slippery eight loop Span loop Spanish bowline Tom fool's knot Trident loop Triple bowline Triple crown knot Water bowline Yosemite bowline Zeppelin loop

Running (slip)	Hangman's knot Running bowline Running highwayman's hitch Slip knot Tarbuck knot

Shanks	Catshank Dogshank Sheepshank

Stopper	Ashley's stopper knot Button knot Double overhand knot Monkey's fist Overhand knot Stevedore knot

Whipping	Common whipping Overhand knot with draw-loop Portuguese whipping Sailmaker's whipping West Country whipping

Lists of knots
Related topics

Lists of knots	Bends Bindings Decorative knots Hitches (friction) Macramé Mathematical

Related topics	Chinese knotting International Guild of Knot Tyers Lashing Rope splicing Seizing

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The Ashley Book of Knots

Use as a reference

Corrections and additions

Notes and references

Further reading