1. Curious Tops. Scientific American. Vol. 74 (1896) pp37-39.
This is a great article. It has pictures, descriptions and classifications. It is A3 size. Worth having in my book.
2. Jacobs J.A. Notes on the behavior of certain symmetrical tops. American J of Physics. Vol.20 (1952) pp. 517.518.
About the Tippy Top. I chose to look at it as it was one of the more modern of Goulds bibliography. There are a few on the "science of how the Tippy Top works" Its is a short and reasonably good article. I don’t know myself that I am very interested in that subject now. The bit of history that I did glean is that it started in Denmark! (That was a surprise as I thought that Japan would have been the place.
3. J.J. Les Toupies. LA Nature (Dec. 14 1895) 24 eme. Annee No. 1176.
Looks to be the same as the "Curious Tops" article, but in French and A4 size.
4. Pliskin W.A. The Tippe Top, American J of Physics Vol. 22 (1954) pp28-32.
Very mathematical. Probably good for the physicists
amongst us. It was over my head. A good diagram of the tops construction,
but not enough to make them from.
This has given me an idea to work on. I make these tops, quite successfully.
I will add to the bibliography articles that I have found on how to make
various tops.
1. Crabtree. H. Spinning Tops and Gyroscopic Motion. Longmans, Green. London (1909)
Ok. I now that I have not said good things about it above, but I have to say that it is (along with Perry) the most complete discussion on the mechanics and physics of tops that I have seen (other than juvenile books that can be surprisingly good) Very technical but for the most part reasonably understandable.
2. Perry. J. Spinning Tops. Sheldon Press. London. (1929)
If I am pushed I think that this would be a little better than Crabtrees book, but they cover much the same ground
3. Daken L. Children's Games Throughout the year. B T Batsford London (1949)
A few nice old pictures and some interesting text. . Don’t expect a treatise as it is only part of an overall survey as per the title. As a book I like it very much, as I have a general interest in children's games nursery rhymes. You wont miss any thing if you don’t have it but if you come across it but it. That’s just what I did.
4. Gould G W The Top. Clarkson N Potter. New York,. 1973.
It’s the "bible" You must get a copy. I will guarantee that it will delight you. Can you believe it I found it quite by accident! Until then I thought that there were no books that treated Tops as a serious Toy and Pastime. I was so lucky. It was this book that turned me from an interested person to a fanatic!.
5. Zubroweski B. Tops. Building and experimenting with
spinning tops. Morrow Junior. New York
1989.
This is a brilliant juvenile book on the physics of the top. I have only got a copy from interlibrary loans this week and am delighted with it. If you want to sell your copy drop me a line. (** Sandstrum's Note: Includes yo-yos. Has optical illusion top patterns. A Boston Children's Museum Activity Book. Shows kids how to make tops and yo-yos out of everyday items.**)
6. Kettlekamp L Spinning Tops. Morrow. New York (1966)
Essentially a children's book about tops. Quite broad ranging in its approach. Explains a variety of top activities and includes yo-yos.
7. Collectors Digest. Tops and Yo-Yos and other
spinning Toys. LW Book Sales PO Box 69,
Gas City, IN 46933 ($12 US)
A great little book containing fascinating pictures of tops and their values in recent sales and auctions. Quite the best source of top pictures in colour that I know. Of course, it has the bonus yo-yos and other things too.
8. Olney, Don. The Tops Book: Games, Tricks, And
New Twists On An Old Favorite.
Running Press, 1994. (Part of Tops Discovery Kit,
Running Press, 1994.)
Includes a brief history of tops, and discusses "Top-ography", Don's classification of the various kinds of tops. Discusses the tops that come with the Tops Discovery Kit and gives examples of tricks and fun things that can be done with the tops. (Review by John Sandstrum)
9. Grunfeld V. Frederic (Ed) Games of the World. NY: Ballantine Books, 1975.
A most interesting book over all. Re tops-it tells you how to make two Japanese tops.
10. Adler, Irving and Ruth. Things That Spin : From
Tops to Atoms.
New York : John Day, 1960, 48 pp.
Illustrated book that explains top physics to children. Easy Reading. (Review by John Sandstrum)
11. Campbell, Rosemae. Tops and Gyroscopes.
New York : Thomas Crowell, 1959, 174 pp.
A book with few illustrations that explains top physics
to middle school children. (Review by John Sandstrum)
I do not have complete references for all of these as they are just photocopies for my own use.
1. Practical Woodworking. July 1996. Hummer.
2. Australian Woodworker. May June 1988. And July
August 1988. The Remarkable Japanese
Spinning top.
This is what started me making the Tippy Tip.
3. Australian Woodworker. Nov. Dec. 1994. Mushroom
Tops. And in the next issue, Sep Oct 1994.
Finger spinning tops.
Includes versions of the tippy top.
4. An English wood work book ( (I suspect it was Good
Woodworking) June 1995 Issue 32. (weekend
wood work project) p 69
5. Good wood working June 1996. P 46-49 Making a wooden Gyroscope.
6. Woodwork Oct. 1995. Turning a Spinning top. P 40-41
7. Fine wood working. July August 1985. The Mysterious Celt. ( This is a different king of "Top")
8. Good Woodworking. April 1996 How to turn tops. P
46-51.
(This is about the most general that you will find)
9. Regester, David. Great Little things to make on
a Small Lathe. Batsford, London, 1995. pp 51-53.
Really nothing special as an article, but sufficient to make tops from.
10. Bridgewater, Alan and Gill. Making Movable
Wooden Toys. Tab Books: Blue Ridge Summit, Pa, 1989. "Project Nine:
Making a Spinning Top", pp. 99-108.
Plans and instructions to make whip tops. A fairly clumsy approach
for an
accomplished turner but OK for a person that has not made a top before. An
iterating opening paragraph on historical names for some tops. He has a
good drawing of a painting jig that might be useful.
1. Griffiths W.E. Games and Sports of Japanese Children. Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. Vol. 2. 1874. Pp 140-158.
The article is virtually useless regarding information about tops. For general information relating to the title it is an interesting account. I think that there are three references to tops, which add every little to our knowledge.
2. Sonoki Kyoshi and Sakanoto Kazua. Japanese Toys. Rutland VI. Tuttle 1965.
Excellent pictures but sparse text. None-the-less a very useful book. Covers about 8 or 9 tops from various districts of Japan. Worth having despite the limited coverage. The rest of the book is most interesting.
3. Ayrton M. Chaplin. Childlife in Japan. NY. DC. Heath 1901.
Not been able to track down a copy of this book. Sorry.
4. Griffiths William Elliot. Mikado Empire. NH. Harper Press. 1900.
Not seen, but I venture to doubt its value as Gould links it to the 1874 article by the same author (see above)
5. Hall Katherine S. Children at Play in Marylands. NY. Missouri Education Movement of the Us and Canada. 1912.
Not seen. It seems strange that Gould should refer this publication to Japanese tops????
6. Jackson Emily. Toys of Other Days. Laden Country Life. 1908
Not seen
I have found that you can pick up bits and pieces from encyclopaedias and other reference books.
If all goes well (promises promises!) I will synthesise what I have got from the above references in an article for the web. My main problem at the moment is getting a few critical references translated.
I have found that the Australian Japan Foundation has been
most helpful. If you are particularly interested in this topic you might try
your national Japan Foundation library. I know that there are a few books
published in Japanese on the topic, but it is of little use to me even if I
had their ISBN as I do not read or speak Japanese.
1. Read C. H. Stone Spinning Tops from the Torres Straits. New Guinea. Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. 17. 1887. Pp85-90. With one plate.
The plate comprises scale drawings of or from six tops. Very clear and a useful plate.
The article contains a detailed description of Tops and the Games and Ceremonies surround the tops. Very good article.
2. Ethridge R. Jnr. The Game of Teetotum as Practised by certain of the Queensland Aborigines. Journal of the Anthropological Society of GB and Ireland. Vol. 25. 1896. Pp259-262.
Useful plate comprising three tops made from seedpods and bored so that they hum. Useful illustration.
The article describes the tops in detail and the game that they played with them. From a modern point of view the term "teetotum:" would be a misnomer as applied to these games. What I got from th4 article was that they just "spun the tops" no "put or take" or related activities. Quite a good article tho8ugh.
3. Best Eldon. Mario Games. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. Vol. 34. 1901. Pp55-58.A good article, which describes the various tops, used by the Maori people. No pictures.
4. Holmes J. H. Introductory notes on Toys and Games of Elema. Papuan Gulf. J of the Anth Inst of GB and Ireland. Vol. 38. 1908
A brief description of a seed top. Limited value.
5. Barton F.R. Childrens Games in British New Guinea. J of the Anth Inst of GB and Ireland. Vol. 38. 1908 p 278.
A paragraph on a buzzer. Very limited value.
6. Report on the work of the Horne Scientific Expedition to Central Australia. Pt. IV Anthropology. London. Dalau. 1896. (Sterling E.C.) p 86.
One small reference to tops. It does refer to another group of Aborigines who do spin tops. Very limited value.
7. MacFarlane Wm. H. The Stone Spinner of Murray Island. Cummins and Cambells Monthly Magazine. Jan. 1949. Pp 19 to 25.
This author wrote a very similar article in Walkabout" in 1937 (Jan 1st) This article is the best of the two and is really quite interesting and reasonable value.
8. Report of the University of Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Strait. Vol. 4. Pp314-317 and Vol. 6. Pp12-15.
These are most interesting and detailed articles. They expand on the myths surrounding the decoration of the tops. A most valuable article. See my web page article that summarises this.
9. Read A.H. and A. W. An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Maori Life. Wellington NZ. AH and AW Read 1963. Good pictures but sparse text. Reasonably useful.
There are a few articles that I am still searching for. There is also quite a bit of work for me to summarise for the web page. But I hope I will get it done sometime.
Just one thing. It looks as thought some of the Islands on
the Torres Straits are still spinning. But I have to confirm this.
Chicago Tops Spinners Life. Vol. 19 (Sept 10 1945) p 97.
Fisher. Harriet F. The Worlds Top Top Maker. Yankee. Dec 1968. P 84 and in the same issue. Rhode Islands Top Top Spinner p 186.
Foley. Dan. Toys Through the Ages. Philadelphia. Clinton. 1962. (Gould recommends it for its bibliography)
Fraser, Antonia. History of Toys Frankfurt-am- Main. Delacorte 1966.
Hillier. Mary. Pageant of Toys. New York. Taplinger. 1966. (Gould recommends it for it illustration (just one????) of Victorian tops.)
Nishizawa, Tekiho. Japanese Toys. Tokyo. Yuzanaku. 1965.
(In Japanese. I hope it is well illustrated!)
My own history of this bibliography is that I selected from Gould those that he said were good. Well it depends on what you may call "good"! I paid a lot of money for both Crabtree and Perry. Whilst they are interesting, the are very "mathematical or scientific" in their approach. Now I am pleased to own two antique books as I like antique books but I am not sure that for my interest that I would have bought them knowing what I know now.
My interest now is in pictures of tops, history and classification of tops.
I would dearly love to have recommendations and sources of books on tops from Japan China and Korea, as I believe that they would be a great source of pictures, even if I could not read the words.
I do have an ISBN number for one book that Don Olney recommended and I am trying to source that for purchase, but he did warn me that it was expensive.
