Weights, Money, and Other Measures Used By Our Ancestors
by Colin Chapman

Written for researchers who come across unfamiliar units of weights and measure, this is the ideal companion to keep by your side when perusing wills, inventories, accounts, and old journals. How can we possibly appreciate the ancient manorial system without an understanding of oxgangs and hides? How can we come to grips with early population listings without knowing about virgates and farthingales? Now, for instance, we know, that a firkin of soap weighed 64 pounds, that a hogshead of claret contained 46 gallons. When reading this book you'll also learn that in 1650 you could have a tooth extracted for about 1 shilling. What a book!

92 pp., paperback, (1995), reprinted 1997, ISBN 0-8063-1501-6