Massive Early 19th Century \"Drawback\" Rim Lock for Sale

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Massive Early 19th Century \"Drawback\" Rim Lock For Sale

$Massive Early 19th Century \$
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Massive Early 19th Century \"Drawback\" Rim Lock:
$600.00

Here we have an extremely fine example of a \"drawback\" or spring rim lock with original key. Impressive for its size, these large rim locks were used on the entrance doors of the finest houses and presented an image of importance and impregnability. In true spring bolt fashion, the latch or \"bolt\" engages automatically when the door is closed and requires a key to open it. The lock also incorporates a \"double throw\" mechanism - for an extra measure of security the bolt may be thrown even deeper into the keeper using the key and can only be disengaged by reversing the bolt action with two rotations of the key; the first rotation retracts the bolt to the original \"unlocked\" spring-loaded position and the second pulls the bolt all the way back into the case allowing the door to be opened. This example likely dates to the early 19th century. It is in untouched, as found condition with historic surface intact and retains the original key. There is no keeper. It is just over 12 inches long and weighs in at eleven pounds, including the key.This lock type is described in the exhaustive reference \"A Treatise on Fire and Thief-Proof Depositories and Locks and Keys\" published in 1856 by George Price, Wolverhampton, England: \"Spring rim of drawback locks for front doors. These are constructed with but one bolt. to lock and spring by the key, and to drawback by the knob on the inside. They are principally used for the front doors of dwelling-houses and may be described as extra large and extra strong night latches.\"