Antiques Collectibles Books

For anyone interested in Native American pottery, this volume is a must-have.

We are lucky enough to have met Florence Chavarria Browning of the Santa Clara pueblo, and to have purchased one of her spectacular black pots.

These particular pots are not glazed, but fired specially to create the pure, colt black of black onyx, darker than coal, and softly glowing. Very few artists have skill enough to burn these amazing pots, and this book, introduces readers to the best of them.

almost every piece of pottery I have is represented in the book!

This is a wonderful detailed book of the the finest potters to be found in the southwest. This new expanded edition provides great family trees of the finest of Pueblo potters. If you're planning a visit to the Southwest and hope to meet some of these potters, it is the perfect companion book to The Native American Indian Artist Directory that will actually provide phone numbers and mailing addresses for many of the potters found in this outstanding edition.

This is a valuable aid in making details. Another reviewer states that 80% of the book is in another book by Bird. This might be a bit of an over statement - no matter if just 20% is new material the book is worth it. I own both of the books he addresses - I noticed the duplication right away. The real question is "will this book make you a better period furniture maker?" I am 57 years old - own every tool required to make period furiture - hold a Masters certification from Marc Adams School of Woodworking - have taken course work with some of the top people in the field - I am now working on a Philidelphia Low Boy and am wooking with Allan Breed (instructor) - and this book is helpful and even insightful. I know at least four of the eighteen of us in class have purchased this book.

If you already own Lonnie Bird's Complete Illustrated Guide to Shaping Wood you will be extremely disappointed with this book. It seemed that 80% was duplicate material. The book descriptions says that this book expands on the techniques covered in Shaping Wood. To me, it looked like nothing more than a page for page copy.

I am surprised at the low book review. This is one of the best teaching books I have read. Lonnie Bird is an artist at conveying woodworking concepts. This is not a step by step how to guide to a completed project. Every detail that is covered is very well covered. I have both of the Lonnie Bird books and believe they complement each other. I highly reccomend this book and this author! If you want a good step by step book on Period Furniture try: Glen Huey's "Building Period Furniture" Both of these books are excellent. See my review under this book on Amazon.I have bought many books that are barely worth taking home. These two books are worth more than they cost! The printing and pictures in This book are superior as are all others I have read by Taunton press.

There are two books on English silver hallmarks available on Amazon, the other being Pocket Ed. Jackson's Hallmarks, and of the two books, this is my favourite. Both books are almost identical in content: both provide illustrations of English, Irish and Scottish silver, gold and platinum hallmarks, and illustrations of the more important makers marks, which allow for the dating of silver, gold and platinum items. However, this book is the easier to use of the two, with the information presented in a way that makes it easier to find what you are looking for. This book also includes a section on Sheffield plate marks and an index of the makers marks, which are not included in "Jackson's Hallmarks".

The periods of time covered by these two books are slightly different. This book gives hallmarks for the period from 1554 to 2004, whereas "Jackson's Hallmarks" covers the period from 1300 to 1991. However, as I have never had any need to date items made prior to 1554, and most of the items that I have dated have been more recent items, I find the period of time covered by this book to be the most appropriate for my needs.

Although both books are very useful and both are likely to satisfy the requirements of the average silver collector, if you are only going to buy one of these books, then this is the one to buy.

The shipment arrived very very fast, the book stinks but that is not the shippers problem.

This book is a little large to be carrying around, however I still do carry it to places that I already know will have the pattern I am looking for.
The forward describes "Elegant" glassware as handmade and acid etched glassware that was sold by department and jewelry stores during the Depression era through the 1950's, differentiating it from the dime store and giveaway glass that has become known as Depression glass. The word "Elegant" has become "official" nomenclature among today's dealers for designating handmade glass.
It is well organized with the glass patterns in alphabetical order and the prices in columns by color of glass. Most of the pictures are color and have good enough definition to identify what you are looking at. There are a contents by pattern and a contents by company.

gene florence , any of his books are concise and show the items in a clear picture . he presents the items along with the current prices . all of genes books as is this one , are lovely to look at and very informative, giving a lot of joy.

Orginally purchased for my mother, I purchased it also after looking through it. The original reason for the book was to attempt to id some etched glass, the glass was not in the book, but it was worth it anyway. Beautiful photos, good writing, I saw pieces I had not known exsited. Who knew that such elegant depression glass was out there! I would not recommend it for the "flea market" or "yard sale" groupie, one of his Collectors Encyclopedias may work better, but it is still a very nice book and well worth it if you collect or deal in higher end depression glass.

This is another fave of mine from Gene Florence!He sure knows what he is writing about!!!This book is loaded with color photos of many different types of depression glass.I never realized how many patterns,and companies,there were out there!!!He also is very thorough about listing what pieces were in what colors and the values for each color.
Overall a fantastic book!

This book was very helpful. I was able to identify 10 pieces that had been sitting on my shelf! I was like a kid in a candy store with all the pictures.

I found the text to be very informative. The pictures were clear and the descriptions were accurate.
The histtory of the LE Glass company was helpful in identifying the value of items I have purchased and am presently selling.
I would highly reccomend it to persons that are collecting or have an interest in the history of american depression glass ware.

Loved the book!!! Has pictures of glass pieces that I am collecting with a value along with the photo.

We are fairly new glass collectors and have found this book to be very helpful. The estimated values seem a bit on the high side and have quite a large range, but do give you an idea of what things are worth. We collect Moon & Star and have never found such a complete listing as in this book.

Tom Felt's L.E. SMITH GLASS COMPANY: THE FIRST ONE HUNDRED YEARS blends a historical overview with an identification and value guide perfect for L.E. Smith glass collectors. Measurements, maker's marks, years of production and color photos of pieces throughout make this a 'must' for any serious collector of the glassware.

This book is definitely out of date when it comes to the suggested price range of pieces, however it is simply one of the most opulent and lovely books on Costume Jewelry. 1500 high quality images that will leave you drooling. This is a brilliant book for anyone loving beautiful jewellery or as an inspiration book for jewellers. Very happy with this purchase.

Judith Miller has done it again with her glossy pictures and informative data on all the main designers in vintage jewelry. This book gives a great synapsises on all the jewelry greats.
This book is wonderful and easy to read for a quick reference. I would recommend this book along with the Miriam Haskell book for any jewelry collector.
This book has taught me so much, just as her others. Thanks again for another great book!

"Costume Jewelry" is a full-colour pictorial guide to the main (American) makers and designers of costume jewellery. For each designer, a brief history is given, which is them followed by numerous colour pictures and 2003 values. A brief appendix of makers marks is included at the end, to allow readers to identify pieces of jewellery which they may own, as is a comprehensive index.

This book is aimed squarely at novice jewellery collectors. It gives the reader a good idea of the different styles of costume jewellery available and is a wonderful book for fueling dreams. However, it lacks much of the information that more advanced collectors may be looking for, such as detailed information on dating jewellery and advice on which are the best pieces to collect.

There are a lot of similarities between this book and Collecting Costume Jewelry 101: The Basics of Starting, Building & Upgrading (Collecting Costume Jewelry 101). Both are visual guides to American costume jewellery makers, although I, personally, prefer "Collecting Costume Jewelery 101". It contains more advice on collecting than this book does. Nevertheless, both books are very good and if you are a beginner and you can afford it, I would recommend that you buy both.

I really like this book because the is alot if information on alot of different makers. The pictures are clear.There are alot of designers I have never heard of so this is great for me. I'm far from an expert and not a beginner so this book is good for me!
Buy it!

This book is a good one to have in your costume jewelry library. It begins with interesting background on costume jewelry through the ages followed by twenty in-depth designer profiles with example pieces. An interesting feature of these first designer profiles is the "Good, Better, Best" designations for examples of the same type of piece, such as necklaces or pins. The third section is entitled the "A-Z of Designers and Makers," which includes less in-depth information on the company or designer with photos of pieces. Interspersed among the A-Z designers are sections entitled "Hot Collecting Field," which deal with topics such as Christmas tree pins, Scottish agate jewelry, Bakelite, Coro duettes, etc. It took me a while to figure out this interruption in the A-Z organization. One surprise in the A-Z designers is that DeLizza & Elster (Juliana) is not included. The book concludes with a "Gallery of Unsigned Pieces" with some rather hodgepodge categories, such as "Miscellaneous Pins." The index is good but alphabetized by designer last name in contrast to other sections of the book which may be alphabetized by designer first name. The jewelry included in this book definitely leans toward the high end. In addition, values seem to me to be inflated in relation to eBay averages. The photography is beautiful. I would recommend buying a used copy for your costume jewelry library.

The book is in excellent condition and I received it well packaged and quickly.

This book's extensive guide to collectible book pricing is fascinating and valuable in itself, but what I enjoyed even more was the numerous interviews with longtime book dealers. These interviews, sprinkled throughout the book, provide a keen insight into today's out-of-print bookselling and collectibles market. Of course, the experts disagree on some points, but that is all part of the fun -- you get to decide what makes the best sense for you, and apply those ideas to your own book-hunting adventures.

This guide also thoroughly covers genre collecting, the care and repair of books, and includes a glossary and references to many additional sources of information.

So whether you're a book auctioneer, bookshop owner, an online dealer, or simply a lover of collectible fiction or nonfiction treasures, I'd recommend that you read this book from cover to cover and put it on your shelf for future reference. When I read this book a few months ago, I found myself underlining a few paragraphs on nearly every page. It will give you a finer appreciation of how the Internet has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for book collectors and dealers alike.

I sell used books on eBay and bought this to bring with me when I go to estate and garage sales. I tend to find and make more money with Non-fiction and this book is heavily weighted to fiction. But it's a pretty good resource none the less.

As a book collector I was disappointed with this book. The text was generally informative but I found the collectible book listing unreliable vis;
The author Patrick O'Brian was spelt O'Brien and his first book "Master and Commander" (the most valueable in the series) not even listed.Also a number of collectible authors of modern 1st's were not listed.

Little things like this jaundiced my view of the efficacy of the publication.

A much better book is "Guide to First Edition Prices 2008/9 R.B Russell.

Honestly, I was a little disappointed with this book. I thought it would go more into depth about how to recognize an older valuable book. It was just a list of "valuable books, and what they sold for on the Internet."
I thought the book would explain how to recognize a valuable book.