2 comments about A guide Book of Double Eagle Gold Coins: A Complete History and Price Guide (Official Red Books).

1. Dave Bowers has shown us all once again his superb writing skills and in-depth Numismatic knowledge with this fairly new release on what just may be the worlds most popular gold coin, the US Double Eagle. All that is missing from this superb date by date analysis of the US double eagle gold coins guidebook is up to date pricing information, which of course has seen many changes ( most to the upside) since the release of this book.
   Whether you are investing in these coins or collecting them , this is one of the guidebooks you need to study this facinating and important series of US gold coins. As a professional coin dealer and specialist in double eagles, I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in these coins. Buy the book before you buy the coins!



2. I've just started collecting Double Eagles and this book offered many interesting details and excellent photos of all Double Eagles. There is good historical background offered also.

5 comments about Standard Catalog of Lionel Train Sets: 1945-1969 (Standard Catalog of Lionel Train Sets 1945-1969).

1. Excellent book, well written for even the most experienced Lionel Collector. I've put together a nice collection of books on Lionel Electric Trains over the years, and this nice work fits right and....and fills a void or two in the other works.
   
   You will enjoy looking through it, and find answers to your questions.



2. I found my old HO gauge train set in the attic and wanted to learn more about it. Reading the info about this book you would think it covered all Lionel train sets. The truth is there is info about all sizes except HO. If HO is your interest look elsewhere.



3. Anyone interested in Lionel Toy Trains would find this book very interesting. Listings presented with many pictures and a excellent description. There are many pictures showing the original boxes the train sets were in and giving various dates on production. This book is not just numbers and prices. A very good source of information for the collector and train buff.



4. The Standard Catalog of Lionel Trains - Cataloged sets, by David Doyle is a very nice book on Lionel Trains. The photos of the Lionel sets are excellent. Do not miss this book if you love Lionel Trains. Richard Archer



5. This book is great, fantastic reading about all Lionel train sets and lots of great pictures. This book covers all Lionel O, O27 and Super O made between 1945 and 1969 sets. It also covers in sites to changes from year to year, and also what to look for to alert you to forgeries in many cases. P.S. NO HO

3 comments about Antique Trader Royal Doulton Price Guide.

1. This is a good resource for Royal Doulton items not found in the Charlton Standard Catalogue. The two books together will give you a pretty comprehensive resource for identifying & valuing "most" Royal Doulton pieces.
   
   This duplicates a small portion of the info in Charlton Standard, but includes most things missing from it. It is a great resource for animals, Bunnykins, Character Jugs, Flambe, Burslem, Lambert Art wares and more!
   
   To any Royal Doulton collectors, I recommend BOTH of these volumes! (Charlton Standard Catalogue & Antique Trader)



2. Good price guide for many (but not all) of Royal Doulton products (tableware not included). An improvement over Charlton in that it provides colour pictures as opposed to Charlton's mostly black/white.Antique Trader Royal Doulton Price Guide



3. Antique Trader Royal Doulton Price Guide I collect Royal Doulton items and had hoped this book would be up to date, especially on their Bunnykins Series, animals, and figurines. However, most of what I look up isn't in this price guide. It is nicely illustrated. Maybe useful for beginners, but I was looking for a far more detailed price guide.

3 comments about The Art of the Sports Car: The Greatest Designs of the 20th Century.

1. The author does it again! This time he captures 50 of the best sportscars with purpose made photography, done especially for the book, and writes simple but very informative text so everyone can relive the best of the best.
   Bravo!



2. This book is a beautiful. You do not have to be a car enthusiast to enjoy this book, where art and beauty come together in a well-detailed book. An excellent edition to any coffee table collection.



3. This is a great book of historical sports cars, with lots of information and beautiful pictures. This is a neat reference and a great coffee table book, very informative and very very classy too! I really recommend this for a car person, of just someone who loves the history or simply the art of beautiful cars.
   
   Sam Kochel: STi driver

2 comments about Standard Catalog Of Ducati Motorcycles 1946-2005.

1. Very well written; I have several books by Falloon and enjoy them all. Great pictures and interesting data. Some of the tables are a little hard to decipher, but with time and patience it can be done. I would recommend this book to any Ducatisti or Ducatista and any follower of Falloon. Great service from the Book Rack also.



2. This book is full of information and is a great reference for anyone who loves Ducati or restores them. All bikes to 2005 are covered. Great pictures! Would love a hard cover edition.

5 comments about Collecting Art Plastic Jewelry: Identification and Price Guide.

1. "Collecting Art Plastic Jewelry: Identification and Price Guide" by Leigh Leshner is informative for the novice as well as seasoned collector. The author seems to convey a keen balance between old and new plastics to give the reader ample knowledge of both. I particularly liked the price guide; it is a good gauge for individuals new to the market. I thought the photos were very well done. Thank you, Leigh.



2. I own all the books in Leigh Leshner's series and cannot fault Leigh for showing off great photos, great jewels and intense information. Leigh has done an excellent job with all of her books. Cannot wait to see what she has next in her jeweled magic hat. I hightly recommend all of Leigh Leshner's books. She gears them for various types of collections and you surely won't be disappointed.



3. Leigh Leshner's "Collecting Art Plastic Jewelry" is a fascinating look at today's plastics artisans. Modern designers like Jackie Weeks, Judith Evans, Jim Foltz and Judy Clarke--excluded from other bakelite and plastic jewelry guides--are well-represented in this clear and interesting book. There are sections on vintage pieces, history and types of plastics as well as the requisite price guide (which seemed more accurate than other guides for this current market...), but it is the photographs and the info on the new generation of artisans that make this book a winner. A must for the serious and the casual collector.



4. This book is a must if you are into collecting Art Plastic Jewellery including plastic ,celluloid , bakelite and lucite.There are beautiful large coloured photographs on every page with descriptions and a price guide. Lots of chunky bracelets, dog brooches, mah-jong bracelets, animal pins, fruit jewellery etc. Very useful if you are into collecting vintage and modern plastic jewellery but also just a lovely book to look at!



5. Great book! Wonderfully photographed and illustrated. Thank you Maurice Childs for going the extra mile to present beautiful photography. Leigh Leshner does a great job of describing the different types of plastics, identification tests, vintage designers, current modern designers, how to collect, and price guide. There is only one negative that I could possibly say about this book. I wish they had put more history included with the photographs such as the designer and manufacturer (if known), year made, and any other pertinent information. I especially liked knowing more about Judy Clarke, Jim Foltz, Ester & Ron Shultz, Karen & Howard Kronimus, Jackie Weeks, and others. A must have for your library!

1 comments about Studio Furniture of the Renwick Gallery: Smithsonian American Art Museum.

1. All 84 furniture pieces of the Gallery a part of the Smithsonian are pictured in full-page color photographs on righthand pages with comments on them and their makers on facing lefthand pages. One sees immediately on looking through the many pieces what Greenhalgh means when he writes in the Foreword, "Furniture is perhaps more allied to architecture than any of the other individual craft-based arts." This is especially true of this studio furniture made between the early years of the 1900s to the early years of the twenty-first century. While the furniture is self-evidently modern, made basically of wood, never loosing sight of its utilitarian purpose, and its inner details (rather than flourishes, for example), it for the most part it is for the most part within the mainstream of furniture, particularly Victorian furniture and more recently art nouveau and the arts-and-crafts furniture toward the end of the Victorian era. Where the Renwick Gallery pieces depart somewhat from the mainstream it is not in shape simply for the sake of shape nor in riotous colors or assemblage calling into question the meaning of "furniture". Where this furniture departs, it is mostly in whimsical touches.
   
   Looking over the collection, one also sees what Greenhalgh means when he comments this furniture comes from a "furniture world [that] was, on the whole, less cohesive and dramatic than these other genres [e. g., jewelry] and unfolded in a more subtle and complex way." No movement, school, or "intellectual thrust" in American furniture making during this period of roughly a century meant that there was "rather, a number of seams of activity." While basically falling within the mainstream, each piece is nonetheless distinctive in appearance. The many chairs--the collection's largest category of furniture--are each distinctive for length of back, size of seat, shape of arms, and details in these. The chairs are distinctive mainly for their sense of proportion among these variables. Except for a few, they're not meant to be ostentatious, nor call attention to their maker. The impression they give off is that of being well-made; and if they give of any kind of statement, it is that of the nearness of the world of nature and the subtle and to some extent mutable connections between it and the human world.

5 comments about And Their Children After Them: The Legacy of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.

1. Unfortunately, the synopsis left out that this book won the Pulitzer for Non-fiction in 1991. Maharidge and Williamson followed the footsteps of James Agee who had profiled sharecroppers during the Depression. They found their decendants, and showed that while cotton and sharecropping had died, rural poverty for these families had been passed down to new generations. The front section of the book is a series of photographs by Williamson, and they are tremendous. Moreover, in their reporting, they filled a gap left by Agee by finding a black family of sharecroppers to add to the others profiled. This is a tremendous book. It works on multiple levels, giving both the sweep of Southern social and economic history and bringing it down to individuals. Beyond that, the book is a metaphor for our own time. "If we understand the death of cotton," Maharidge writes in this book, "we understand many things about modern America." This is a tremendous work, highly readable and moving. The recognition these two craftsmen received for it is well-deserved



2. First introduced to "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" by James Agee and Walker Evans through a PBS Documentary, which inspired a dash to the library to read the book iteself, it wasn't until years later I went back to the library to see if anyone had ever followed up on the story. Confronted with the then new computerized "card catalog" system, I wondered how I might search for any related writings when it dawned on me what a perfect title would naturally evolve from the verse the first book title was taken: ..And Their Children After Them. Imagine my amazement when I tried that title, and there it was! Maharidge and Williamson have followed in Agee and Evans footsteps to give readers "the rest of the story" of the tenant farmers' families and grandchildren, as well as the stories of Agee and Evans themselves. I congratulation them on an excellent book, and offer thanks to the families and their descendants for sharing their lifestories. Their lives did not take the path predicted for them by Agee: life refuses to be harnessed by prediction. Some went farther than anyone could have anticipated, while others came to a place, if possible, even worse than expected. As a second generation American, descended from Polish and Prussian immigrants who lived comparable lives, but who were blessed to own their own land, I identified closely with these stories, from the first page of "Let Us Praise" to the last page of "And Their Children".



3. This book should be read right after reading James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Mem. Unfortuantely I read it over four years before I read Agee's work. When I read this book--in Feb 1996--I wrote to myself: This is a book Newt Gingrich and the crazy House freshmen should read--people who are so intent that those who cannot make it on their own should not make it.



4. While I have Let Us Now Praise Famous Men on deck to read as well, the friend who loaned me the books explained she found And Their Children After Them first, and actually liked reading them in reverse order. So, I chose to follow her lead.
   
   The book, even standing alone, is an intensely personal and touching look into the lives of people who many of us who enjoy the luxury of writing reviews on the Internet can never really understand. The backgrounds, upbringings and challenges were so vastly different, and the book does a good job of showing us something different, something very real.
   
   I can understand the retiscence of some to participate in the book -- while reading passages in this book I often thought to myself what it would feel like to be the person being written about and to see the things about them in print. Like our society, there is a great deal of judgement in the book -- while they try to avoid it, it is there, and it's painful at times.
   
   But it's all worth it, in my opinion, to uncover the many thought provoking things that relate to our world today, and that give me a better understanding of history and people's place within it.



5. For readers of the original Agee/Evans collaboration, "And Their Children" is well worth the time. The reporter and photographer tracked down the 116 living offspring of the pseudonymous Gudger, Ricketts, and Woods families, as well as those who were part of the original book (12 of 22 who appeared in "Let Us Now" were still alive when they began their research in 1986). Not all were willing to be interviewed or photographed, but many were.
   
   As with the first book, the tale here is not a particularly happy one. The author begins by recounting the suicide of Maggie Louise Gudger, age 10 in 1936, a particular favorite of Agee's, and dead at age 45--the same age at which Agee himself died from drink. And yet there are varying degrees of hope in many of the stories, such as that of Maggie Louise's daughter Debbie and her children.
   
   The structure of the book follows each family through different periods: 1936-1940; 1940-1960; and 1960-1986. The author also includes sections on one of the local landowning families (which was far from rich!) and an African-American sharecropping family. Along the way, we learn surprising things about the evil (and Faulknerian) Fred Ricketts, the fate of Clair Bell (she did not die at age 4, as Agee had feared she would), the struggles of George Gudger, and the families' views on Agee, Evans, and the original book. About the children and grandchildren, we find out about those who ran away (and usually came back) and those who stayed; marriages; children; the end of farming; attempts at succeeding at school and at work; closeness and bitterness. It's all grippingly told. And the photographs that allow one to compare the state of things in 1936 and 1986 are excellent. Several photos exactly re-capture the originals.
   
   Quibbles: Naturally, I think, the sections on the two families who did not appear in the first book are less interesting. They could have been abbreviated. Also, the author's (negative) take on the state of America in 1986 is garden-variety journalism for that time. These sections are easily avoided, however, and do not detract from the writing about the original families.
   
   Counter to the author's gloomy opinions, his stories indicate that many of these descendents of share-croppers emerged from the Depression to enjoy a slow but steady material progress. Maggie Louise's grandchildren, now in their thirties, should do even better over the course of their lives. One hopes that another writer-photographer team will venture to Hobe's Hill in 2036 to test that proposition.

5 comments about Pocket Ed. Jackson's Hallmarks.

1. This is a great little book to take antiquing with you if you collect English silver. Although not exactly pocket size it can still fit in your bag or you can hold on to it without it getting cumbersome. Unlike many of the other silver ID books the hallmarks shown in this book are large and clear enough that you don't need your glasses to decipher them. A nice plus is that it reviews selected makers of Georgian through 20th Century silver and offers a little comment on their work.



2. This is a great little book!
   Easy to use to look up maker's marks while out antiquing, or at auctions, or what-have-you.
   I just wish there was a section of Russian Silversmiths Marks. But other than that... A+!



3. Not easy for any beginner to use. Unless you knew exactly what kind of silver you were trying to identify i.e. English, Scottish, Irish... etc, it was a bit confusing. Marks are black & white, some not showing very good clarity and everything is in extremely in small print. If you just want to sort through tons of marks and dates, this may be for you. If you want information about your piece, pass it up.



4. Unless you are extremely experienced with Silver and Gold items and what / where their origin may be, this book is probably not for you. The chances of being able to find what you are looking for reminds me of looking for a needle in a haystack. The marks are illustrated in VERY SMALL 1/4" black and white diagrams, column after column, put in tables with time period or comment in print that is even smaller than the diagram. Several (bordering on too many) of the marks look very much the same and after looking at 170 pgs of extremely small and not necessarily clear diagrams and images, I feel I should of spent my money elsewhere for info on silver ID.



5. There are two books on English silver hallmarks available on Amazon, the other being English Silver Hallmarks, and although both are excellent books, in my opinion, this is the lesser of the two. 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 omits Sheffield plate marks, which are included in "English Silver Hallmarks", and it is harder to find what you are looking for in this book.
   
   The periods of time covered by these two books are slightly different. This book gives hallmarks for the period from 1300 to 1991, whereas "English Silver Hallmarks" covers the period from 1554 to 2004. If you are wishing to date very early pieces of silver, then, clearly, this is the book to buy. 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 "English Silver Hallmarks" 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 "English Silver Hallmarks" is probably the book to buy.

4 comments about Standard Catalog of Comic Books.

1. This thing is a monster. It has details on nearly every comic published, through to September 2001 or so. Besides the usual pricing information, if also includes circulation info (for some titles) and CGC info (how many copies have been CGC'd, and what the highest grade is). Many titles have a short series synopsis included, with information on storylines, creators, and anything else that might be interesting about a title.



2. This catalog provides a wealth of information for collectors of comic books. It can be overwhelming for a novice (me) to absorb, but what fun I will have while I learn. Definitely a worthwhile investment.



3. This book is so much more than a price guide. Don't get me wrong, as a comic book price guide it's a good one, not only giving you the average comic store retail value of books, but that the average online auction value is in several CGC grades. It's fair and accurate on most books, though it doesn't give insanely high values to some of the `hot new' books. Also, it has individual listings for each comic book with check boxes by every issue so you can keep track of what you have and what you need.
   
   But this 5.5 pound monster isn't just about how much your comic is worth. For most series it gives a background and description of the series. It tells you who wrote and drew every single comic, and it even has how many issues were printed for most comics.
   
   Newcomers to comic books can enjoy this rich wealth of comic book information but I believe the long time comic book fanatic will best enjoy it. For the long time fan this book will not only help you keep track of your vast collection, but it will allow you an opportunity to discover new comic series. It will reacquaint you with lost comic book loves, and it will provide you hours of reading.
   
   This is a must have for every comic book fan new and seasoned, young and old. I can't recommend this enough!



4. The Overstreet Comic Price Guide has been around so long that it's become ubiquitous in the industry. It's the default standard of most collectors. Now while Krause Publications does out their own yearly price guide, the Standard Catalog of Comics is a whole other animal. This massive, 1600 plus page tome lists more comic titles than any other guide at over 165,000 comics, far more than any other guide going, and includes hundreds of variant issues. The Standard Catalog of Comics is the blue collar guide to comics. It isn't filled with fluff articles about Superman or Archie, this is a guide designed for and by comic book collectors and enthusiasts.
   
   First, this book does a far better job of explaining comic grading and conditions than Overstreet, and features close-up photos of standard defects such as creasing, spine-roll, rusty staples, and stress creases. But what really sets The Standard Catalog apart from its competitor is it's pricing data. With Overstreet, we get dozens of pages of retailer reports offering their opinions and a handful of recorded sales that to me has always been fairly useless. Today, the internet, and particularly eBay has changed the way comics are bought and sold and pretty much replace retail shops and conventions as the preferred place to buy and sell back issues. What this book provides is real date culled from real sales, and a lot of it.
   
   What the editors have done is to track up to 25 recent auction closings for various combinations of CGC graded comics. For example, Daredevil #1 had at 25 reported closings in a condition of CGC 6.0 over the evaluation period. These books closed with a low of $455, a high of $911, and an average of $640. In another example, Marvel Team-Up #24 had 4 closing (and three is the minimum used for reporting) in a grade of CGC 9.8. The high was $147. Now this book in standard NM condition is only valued at $8 so you can see the wide disparity in slabbed comic books. This is real world data that is invaluable to collectors like myself who have moved to eBay to buy and sell comics. Where there is no auction data each book is given only a NM grade and then there is a chart to calculate the value of a book in lower grade. This information comes from the Comic Base, as well as convention and mail order sales. Purists may be bothered by that but really, what more does one need? The CGC data is what is going to appeal to most collectors anyway.
   
   Another thing setting the Standard Catalog apart is its circulation data. With records of capital City and Diamond orders along with the publisher's statement of ownership figures, circulation totals are provided for thousands of comics. Now you can know just how many copies of the supposed "rare" title were distributed. Again, this is invaluable information for collectors. Listed for issues are items such as notable character appearances, events, origins, first appearances, artist/writer credits, they even list the title of the story for hundreds of thousands of individual issues. In addition brief capsule essays are provided for nearly all mainstream comic titles.
   
   The book is clearly and concisely written. The information is provided in a well laid out format and is easy to follow and locate. Is it perfect? Well not quite. While there are over 2,000 comic photos that only averages to just over one per page and more photos would have been welcome. Still the wealth of valuable information in the book makes it absolutely indispensable for any comic book collector and should be in the possession of anyone who is series about comics.
   
   Reviewed by Tim Janson