2 comments about Standard Catalog of Farm Toys: Identification and Price Guide.

1. A brand new year 2001, 448 page reference volume with more than 6,000 very clear, black and white photos and a 16 page full color section. Year 2001 values are provided. A complete index facilitates item location. There is a nice, informative introductory section, and a section detailing the toy makers. Enthusiasts will love looking at the huge variety of photos. If you're interested in these toys, you'll find it of real value.



2. Either there is a major error on page 256 and 263 or everyone and their brother happens to perceive it incorrectly. The photo and caption are of a John Deere 30 series (2030, 2630, etc.) and it states it is showing a 2010. Two completely different machines! Accuracy and definition are critical in a book like this.

No comments about Collector's Encyclopedia of Occupied Japan Collectibles/3rd Series.

No comments about Britains Civilian Toy Figures.

No comments about Before 1948: American Paintings in Georgia Collections.

1 comments about A Passion for Books..

1. I like to mark the end of the old year and the start of the new by reading a book about books. Though it wasn't entirely what I was expecting, "A Passion for Books" by Lawrence Clark Powell was on the whole a fine way of celebrating our shared love for books.
   
   Powell was the university librarian at UCLA for many years, and most of this collection of essays is intended one way or another for professional librarians. Even in the early 1950s, when these writings were first published, people were apparently predicting the imminent obsolescence of books. Powell is having none of it, and he combines his passionate defense of books as a medium with severe criticism for librarians who do not see themselves, first and foremost, as "bookmen." More than cataloguers, more than "resource technicians," more than information-studies technocrats, Powell wants librarians to be evangelists sharing their passion for books and for reading. Of a class he taught at Columbia, he writes that he wanted to convince his students that
   
   "...librarianship is a humane art, not a mechanistic science.... I insisted that librarianship is a calling, similar to the ministry, that gives rich returns to those who give their lives to it.... I preached the only gospel I know: that books are basic and that people are good, and that to work with them both is the best of all possible lives" [p. 155]."
   
   Powell was writing for librarians, and so a good deal of the content of this book is not immediately relevant to book-loving non-librarians like me. But I still found this a fine book in which to spend some time. Powell's devotion to books is stronger even, I venture to say, than his devotion to librarianship (my review title comes from a phrase he uses in description of himself). And since we have that in common, I found this little volume a good way to spend a few hours at the turn of the year.

No comments about Early American Pattern Glass 1850-1910: Major Collectible Table Settings With Prices.

No comments about Miller's Collecting Glass: The Facts at Your Fingertips (Miller's Collector's Guides).

5 comments about Elegant Glassware of the Depression Era: Identification and Value Guide Tenth Edition.

1. 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 is a contents by pattern and a contents by company.



2. 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.



3. 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.



4. I was already familiar with the publication, so I knew what to expect. That's why I purchased it.



5. I found this book very interesting and was able to identify glassware not found in other books. Great for reference, good pictures and more glass makers.
   Great Book.

1 comments about Cracker Jack Collectibles: With Price Guide (A Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. I recently acquired a small Cracker Jack prize collection from the 50's-60's. I ordered this book for two purposes: that it would enable me to identify those pieces that were not specifically stamped Cracker Jack or NOSCO (the toy manufacturer) and that it contained a price guide. The book is sadly lacking. Many of the photographs are redundant ... full page photographic layouts of the same prize(s). I was hoping for a book that was chronological and illustrated or described every known C.J. prize. I thought the price guide was neither current or accurate. I probably should have returned the book.

2 comments about Tiffany Desk Treasures.

1. Collaboratively compiled and written by Tiffany experts and appraisers George A. Kemeny and Donald Miller, Tiffany Desk Treasures: A Collector's Guide is an informed and informative history of the wealthy American artist Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) and his especially crafted desk sets, as produced by Tiffany Studios and Tiffany Furnaces between the late 1890s and 1933. Full-color photographs showcase memorable works of art, while the "reader friendly" text accessibly describes the pieces' histories and subtle nuances of their creations. A superbly organized and presented history for Tiffany antique collectors (it also includes a Catalogue Raisonne of Tiffany Studies and Tiffany Furnaces Desk Accessories), as well as a gorgeous book for connoisseurs of fine art to simply page through, Tiffany Desk Treasures is far more inexpensive than (and the next best thing to) owning a personal Tiffany collection.



2. This was a nice clean book in really good condition...just as advertised. I am pleased with it's condition and with the speedy delivery.