Antiques Collectibles Books

There must be millions of readers out there who don't really care about guns, per se, but run into various types of weaponry when reading historical or crime fiction.
I know a little about guns -- grew up in a southern family, first .22 rifle when I was 13 years old, etc. -- but when I'm reading a World War I novel and the hero pulls out a huge Austro-Hungarian Empire military revolver, I may be a little lost.
Hogg's book fulfills a useful function for those who want to doublecheck and see what some weapon in a story actually looks like.
(Oh, so that's how a Webley Fosberry automatic revolver worked, huh?)
(A DeLisle carbine is a silenced Enfield rifle in .45 caliber? What the heck would that look like?)
Gun nuts (like me) can get a little picky about details in far-ranging reference books. But if you're starting from scratch, books like this are invaluable.

I have had this book for a number of years and, although the research is excellent, it does indeed have substantial typo's and reference errors as if the material was compiled by a staff editor who knows nothing about firearms and has not taken the trouble to make simple corrections. Many firearms are omitted and some included, however revolutionary and ground-breaking they are not always representative of the whole. Furthermore, the entire category of combat shotguns has not even been addressed but anti-materiel rifles have, which are undeniably interesting but only a small part of the whole. The organization is good as are the photographs but I would have made a number of editing corrections as a previous reviewer has noted (I have written in the corrections in my own volume). I rely upon this volume for information but often double check the facts through other sources as the glaring errors reduces my confidence in this as a comprehensive reference. As a reference book writer myself, I have written to the publisher offering to edit an 8th edition should such a thing be in the works but of course there is no profit margin for a slightly corrected version of a popular volume. My edition is so heavily thumbed and used that I will likely acquire another and not balk at the price but would gladly pay more for an accurate reference.

Actually I was being lenient with 3 stars... It is an incomplete work with HUGE gaps on vital basics, leaving out prominent manufacturers and models manufactured, and above all, grossly wrong on stats on some items. Mr Hogg needs to do a lot of further work before he can claim it to be a quality reference work of note.

This book lives up to its name. It provides an overview of the 20th Century. Lots of photos for reference. Exactly what I thought it would be.

This is truly the first and last book when it comes to 20th century small arms. Ian Hogg does it again as he categorizes weapons by type then country. Every gun is included from WWI to 1990.

This book is black and white but the photos are good, and he has some for some very rare guns.

Each gun is accompanied by a photo and a chart laying out the facts. Each gun also contains a few paragraphs of history and review as to how it should be placed in history. For example the MG42 is rightfully hailed as the best machine gun of WWII, while the M16 is ridiculed as reason we lost Vietnam.

I'm read a lot of gun books and this one is the best because of Hogg's writing, and the fact that it is the most comprehensive I've ever seen. He doesn't just include his favorite guns but every gun ever used in 20th century combat.

The HK G11 cover is also impressive.

This book is an invaluable resource for any business or collector dealing in silver (coin, silverplate, or sterling). This was a gift I purchased for a collector's library and the third reprint I've purchased over the years. A must-have book for the silver research library.

This is a "must have" for anyone who collects, sells or loves sterling silver.

this is the book to have if you are an antique silver collector. Wonderful addition to my silver library

I got this book through inter-library loan on the advice of an online silver seller and hobbyist? expert? We are restoring an 1800s farmhouse in New York state, and have found various bits of silver and pottery and other things. Everything is quite worn and dirty from being underground for decades. I did a number of online searches but it was this book which enabled me to identify, just in the course of one afternoon, two pieces of cutlery -- one old silver, one less old silverplate, and be fairly secure in the ID because this book tells a bit about some of the marks, such as their locale.

No resource is infinite. This book shows many, many marks, and the text tells of the history and relationships among many of the manufacturers. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone else doing research. Don't forget your loupe or other strong magnifier!

This is a good book for American Hallmarks BUT, it is extremely out-of-date. Also, many entries do not have a picture of the mark, making identification difficult. There must be a better book out there somewhere!

This is a coloring book of Tudor Fashions. I like the fact that I can copy and color in the way I want a costume to look. Fairly historically accurate.

I just purchased these Dover COloring Books for my mother and she loves them. The detail is out of this world and the variety of colors you can use are only limited by your inagination. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

If you're an adult and you still love to color - the coloring books by Tom Tierney are WONDERFUL! I especially love the fashions in the Tudor and Elizabethan fashions. His descriptions of the fashions and clothing of the times make the books unique and fascinating. Make sure you have plenty of color pencils on hand, though, because the books are too detailed for crayons. I would not recommend this book for impatient people or children because the coloring of the drawings can be tedious (up to 1-2 hours for one drawing depending on the book and the outfit, but then again, I'm a perfectionist).

Very helpful book - have really been enjoying this book as I have wanted this book for years, finally got it!

I bought this book to help me determine the value of a collection of high quality dolls that my aunt wants to help her sell. Our of five doll designers, only one of the designers was even listed in her book. This was a waste of my money, for sure!

I am formilair with this book. It is a great book IF you know the name of your doll. If you don't it is not a good one for you.

THE resource for all your doll questions on values and dolls.

Although the Blue Book is the avid doll collectors' favorite price guide, it contains numerous categories that have not been updated for quite a number of years. China, parian, papier mache, and wooden, some of the earliest dolls in existence, have been gaining in popularity for several years now and the market prices, both at auction and online have been rising considerably. The Blue Book has not caught up with this trend.

Also, it would be extremely helpful if there were a comprehensive section that described the methods used in compiling the information as well as the sources of this information. Some of the prices are so far off the mark in actual market prices realized, that it makes the professional wonder if the numbers are merely picked out of blue sky.

The book is well structured and is the easiest to use on a daily basis, of all the price guides, however, serious updating and a description of the price compilation process, would improve it immensely.

This book is beautiful. It is hardback and visually very appealing for any tractor enthusiast. I bought this as a Christmas gift, and I would buy it again!

This book has lots of pictures which is what I wanted. So for us this book was exactly what we needed.

A+++ A must for any collector! Beautifully written, photographed, and illustrated. I can't wait for Ms. Zweig's next book!

We want to find more goodies from this era for our vintage kitchen, and this book is helping us develop a sharper eye. There's space left on the Hoosier cabinet to display a few more vintage kitchen wares...

I've rated this book good, but I've got mixed feelings about it. On one hand it's wonderful! Lots of good info and interesting items featured. It really is a fun read with lots of cool items photographed. But my main concern is the execution of the book. The lighting on many of the photos is very poor for example. They look like they were taken with nothing but regular room lighting, not special lighting I would assume a professional photog would use. So, I'm sort of split down the middle. But I would definately say I'm glad I bought it, even with the split decision!

Love, love , love this book. It was exactly what I wanted and so much cheaper than the book store. It arrived very quickly and was in excellent condition.

This is a wonderful book written and illustrated fabulously - dealing in Vintage Kitchenware and Home Collectilbes with our own online web shop, it was a joy to read and savor every page - made us love the eras talked about even more!!

linda
Evelynne's Oldies But Goodies
http://www.evelynnesoldiesbutgoodies.com

I went to ERAU where the main author teaches. He's an extremely smart person , but he's out of touch with reality and practicality. With that in mind, it's a very difficult book to read, not including the many errors in it. As far as "aircraft" structural analysis is concerned, this book covers extremely little. It's basically a generic structural analysis book with an airplane on the cover. If you want real aircraft structural analysis books, get Bruhn and Peery.

First of all I have the teacher that wrote this book. On the first day of class he gives you the 81 pages of typos that are in the book and their corrections. It is poorly written and full of mistakes. In fact almost all of his lecture is going through the book and showing penciled in corrections and explaining why the book is wrong.

This is an excellent book for the undergraduate. Having studied Aircraft Structures at Embry-Riddle under some of the book's contributors, I recognize it as a valuable resource of A/C Structures theory. Excellent examples and logically outlined, I highly recommend it.

Great service book is in excellent condition.
Thanks so much.

Another excellent identification book by Ellen T. Schroy. It is well organized and the beautiful color pictures are clear for pattern identification. She identifies the maker, the colors which were produce, the known forms, the identifying characteristics, and the prices at the time the book was written. There is a section showing and describing the colors of carnival glass, and an explanation of how to determine the color of carnival glass. Also included in the book is a time line and information about each glass company during the Carnival Glass era. This book is one of the best for identifying pieces of carnival glass. I use it more than any of my other books. It is my favorite! I highly recommend it to every beginning collector!

Beautiful colorful photos. Very easy to read and identify patterns. SO MUCH TO LOOK AT!!!

Hundreds of classic and popular glass patterns, more than 5,000 prices, and headline production pieces pack Warman's Carnival Glass: an identification and price guide key to understanding Warman colors, forms, identifying characteristics, and values. Each piece receives a color photo paired with information on common reproductions, making for an excellent and solid reference work collectors will find easy to consult.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

An in-depth family bio on the Bengel family of jewelers through the Art Deco period. Includes lots of family photos, original art piece drawings, and beautifully photographed actual pictures of Bengel pieces. It is a nice slice of life in pictoral form for anyone who wants to see close up, the types of jewelry that was being worn during that era. A beautiful book for the art lover or the vintage lover, for reference or coffee table.

A first-class survey of Art Deco Galalith jewelry which focuses on the output of the German watch-chain and jewelry manufacturer Bengel. The first ninety-seven pages look at thirties fashion, jewelry and the art movements that created such a vibrant look to pendants, bracelets, earrings and brooches. Clearly Christine Weber-Stober has done a lot of research into European Art Deco jewelry and the items made by Bengel from Galalith (from the Greek 'gala', milk and 'lithos', stone)

It was made from milk protein and formaldehyde and was one of the new synthetic products developed in the middle and latter part of the nineteenth century. The beauty of it was that it could be made cheaply, was heat resistant and easy to color, so makers of buttons, belt-buckles, knitting needles and similar small items were able to churn them out by the millions. It did have one drawback though: it couldn't be cast like later plastic but was made in slabs, tubes and rods then cut and worked into whatever simple shape was required.

The various new materials developed in the early years of the twentieth century were ideally suited to designers and creative folk influenced by the new 'isms' of the age: cubism, futurism, vorticism and especially modernism via the Bauhaus. The second part of the book has 253 photos of mass produced jewelry from the Bengel company. Their expertise in metalwork combined with the simple colorful shapes of Galalith makes all of these pieces look quite stunning. Strangely, despite the author's research, there seems to be no real explanation as to why this German metal working factory made such remarkable work. None of it was stamped with the company name, their Galalith jewelry output went to wholesalers who sold it on to retailers who added their brand names.

The book's production is as gorgeous as the jewelry. Printed on matt art paper with a 175 screen, the elegant layout throws up the excellent photography. The text is in German and English but the designers have avoided any potential reader confusion by splitting the text pages horizontally with German occupying the top section. In comparison the books for collectors from the main American publishers in this sector look bland and visually uninspiring (expensive, too).

Art Deco Jewelry is a beautiful celebration of past jewelry style that still looks fresh and lively today.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

Probably the dawn of art deco fashion jewelry was the 16-28 May 1927 machine-age exposition in New York. This exposition showed how modern technology could be fused with the arts, bringing German bauhaus design to America's attention.

The prior year, 1926, saw the release of the silent film "Metropolis," Fritz Lang's anxious vision of a world demanding conformity in which "the masses" are controlled by machines and their owners. This film's art direction makes use of many art deco design elements which find their way into mainstream costume jewelry design. Geometric shapes and simplicity dominate costume jewelry in which new, inexpensive materials, such as bakelite and corolite could be incorporated, adding translucent and opaque color.

Fashion jewelry components in the 1930's were manufactured primarily in Bohemia so, when Jewish owners lost their factories in 1938, art deco costume jewelry also vanished from the fashion scene. This book gathers -- and preserves in photographs -- much of art deco jewelry's beauty within its pages.

I have read Charlotte's book, "Creating A Room", and prefer it while re-decorating. "A Passion for Detail" is a "look book" and sometimes a little too precious for the average household. But it is nice escapism

Ever heard the phrase "it's all in the details?" Ever wonder just how homes that grace the pages of the best shelter magazines ever get chosen in the first place? What's right, what's wrong, how can I get my home to put on its best face? What style is really me? Former Wall-Streeter Charlotte Moss, now a well published interior decorator, builds a great argument for discovering then developing a personal interior vision. Her stylishly decorated images ooze of self-confidence and clarity of thought. Well chosen fabrics and accessories, complete with understanding and ideas behind their choices reveal insight and a good sense of humor too. Moss notes that everyone has a passion for something, and that these passions are forms of self-expression. Comfort, style, values and personality are telling signals of the quality of lives we lead. In our daily frenzied routines, Moss advocates looking at your own home from a different perspective. The book's mission promises that a more relaxed and confident home will emerge. Mission accomplished!

Studying Charlotte Moss' technique is a must for those who are designers and also for those who are developing their own design style. It is foreseeable that not everyone would covet EVERY Moss design, but it is admirable how her philosophy seems to center on a way of living, and showcasing your life, rather than merely decorating.

In her first book, A Passion For Detail, the theme is obviously denoted by the title. The book provides a great introduction and insight into Moss' technique and design style - heavy on the accessories and patterns (some might call it cluttered), but the decor is nonetheless tasteful and very calculated. Moss aims to surround herself, and those for whom she designs, with the things they love. Even if this technique amounts to a lot of "things."

The book is thematic and conveniently divided into five sections, but at times, the chapters themselves are a bit disjointed and the chapter themes, while vaguely associated with the pictures, do not seem very cohesive as the pictures jump around from house to house.

If you are looking for a how-to decorate book, this is not the book for you. Chapter Five briefly touches on Moss' technique, but it is more a study the pictures and learn type of book. You could reproduce the design strategy, but most of Moss' accessories are a bit out of the average price range and the style of decor is a bit impractical for most of us. But, even if you are scared by Moss' designs, this is still an important read for design fanatics, as you can still learn from her technique. The most prevalent lesson from the book is this: design is about style and taste, but it is also about surrounding yourself with the things you love.