According to legend, Alexander of Neckham was born the same night as Richard the Lionhearted and became Richard's foster brother. Whatever the truth of these stories, Alexander prospered in his career, becoming Abbot of Cirencester in England. During the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, Alexander wrote many books on a wide variety of subjects. The following excerpt is from his account of his student days in Paris and describes the tools and materials required by a skilled goldsmith:

The goldsmith should have a furnace with a hole at the top so that the smoke can get out. One hand should govern the bellows with light pressure and with the greatest care so that the air pressed through the nozzle may blow upon the coals and feed the fire. Let him have an anvil of extreme hardness on which...