Corkscrews appeal to collectors who appreciate the functional beauty of an instrument designed for a specific purpose, namely to remove a cork from a wine bottle. The corkscrew was invented in the seventeenth century, the original design being based on a device for withdrawing a ramrod from a gun barrel, and since then thousands of different versions have been produced. This book traces the history of the corkscrew, illustrates many different ones and explains how they work and how they were made. It also covers other tools used for opening bottles sealed with various caps or stoppers.
