Miller's, most famous for their antiques guides turn their attention to pens and writing equipment, giving some idea of the recognized growth in this area of collecting. This book is intended as a companion for the collector and unlike the companion by Alexander Crum Ewing, this book takes a broader look at the complete range of writing instrument collecting and would be more suited to someone who's tastes run to vintage as well as modern pen collecting. Covering the complete gamut from early writing instruments to modern limited editions, it covers; pencils, ink, inkwells and other emphemera. This book doesn't waste time with small talk and in common with many companions, facts and details are thrown up at the reader in every sentence.
The run-through from early pens, unusual design pens, pens of the 30's and 40's and with the same attention given to pencils and inkwells it is interesting to note what's included. The usual suspects - 51's, 61's and PFM's all get their deserved mention, but so do more unusual items : Haro Glass nib pens, a 1930's two nibbed Dunhill manufactured by Omas and many other unusual offerings are included.
The book itself introduces a new theme every two pages (this is a mere 70 page book). These are fact filled pages with very good illustrations. The illustration showing the workings of the lever filler, for example, is excellent and the photography in general is very good. However, in common with all Miller's books the real value in buying this book lies in it's pricing guide. Many old items and vintage pens are given a Sterling price as a guide (nominally, a one to one conversion to US$ can be made). These guides can be used intuitively, to make an educated guess at other equipment from the same era, in the same condition.
A factfile is placed in the corner of every second page. They cover more technical or date oriented information, giving the reader a very quick, broad burst of knowledge that would be helpful in an antique store or auction house.
Jam packed with brief historical and pricing information, this really is a buyer's guide and Miller's did well to cover such a broad spectrum in such a short space. Described as an introduction to collecting for the novice, this is more a guide for the mature collector or antiques hunter to wishes to turn his/her attention to writing equipment and is confident in a buying situation. The neophyte collector should look elsewhere and anybody who is looking for an entertaining read will be disappointed.
This is a book primarily intended for the experienced collector who wishes to broaden or diversify his or her collection; for the contemporary collector looking to collect vintage or the vintage collector looking to broaden the span of items collected. As much attention is given to sealing wax and antique pencils as is given to fountain pens and unless these are within your collecting remit, this book will not tell you anything you do not know other than the pricing guides. Having said that, given that it's quite inexpensive, as mentioned above, it could prove very useful, especially in an antique store or auction house