_The original escapement for mechanical clocks. Date of invention unknown but perhaps the 13th cent. Although it is an escapement in its worst form, in that it never leaves the pendulum or balance free for an instant, nevertheless it was in its day as revolutionary an invention as was, later, the anchor escapement. It held the field unchallenged for about four hundred years; even thereafter it remained in use for clocks and watches, along with better types, for another one hundred and fifty years. It was used in bracket clocks as long as there were only one or two in a house, and they were carried from room to room, since it does not need any very careful levelling._ Helena Hayward (ed.). The Connoisseur's Handbook of Antique Collecting. Galahad Books, NY, 1960. 320 pp. _A type of escapement used in most clocks until the invention of the more accurate ancre escapement in the 1670s. It was first drawn up by Giovanni da Dondi, Paduan professor, in 1364. It comprises a toothed wheel and a verge (shaft), with two pallets released in turn by a foliot (large horizontal bar) or balance (wheel)._ Judith Miller. The Illustrated Dictionary of Antiques & Collectibles. Bullfinch Press Book_Marshall Editions Development, 2001

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