Collecting Books

Despite statements to the contrary, this book is not out of print. It is still available. Publisher ships within 24 hours.

The majority of this collection is from the Southwest or Mexico but interestingly there are similar pieces from less expected places e.g. Eastern US, central Europe, the Philippines. A significant number of the pieces are pictured. The text mixes technical information about the art pieces with information about how they came into the collection. The art itself ranges from primitive to superb folk art - executed in a variety of media. Among the pieces that catch my attention is a crucifix with an angel at Jesus' side and the retablo of Our Lady of Refuge.

This is an excellent volume for those interested in folk devotional art or Mexican / Southwestern art.

Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., references are always excellent visual and educational resources for collectors, but until November their guide to antique "Historical Staffordshire" pottery styles was the only title available in its category. References focused on antique "Romantic Staffordshire" are scarce, so it was with delight I learned of this guide's recent publication. 100's of beautiful glossy photographs help collectors identify pieces in their collections. EXCELLENT photographs, detailed descriptions, explanations of creation and manufacture, origin of motifs, as well as history of important English potteries and approximate values make this guide a vital tool for any Staffordshire collector, casual or otherwise. Thank you, Schiffer!

Schiffer Publications, Ltd., provides helpful guides to collectors of dozens of items. The older "Historical Staffordshire" is a wonderful reference for lovers of all English Staffordshire pottery, though it does not specifically address its kin "Romantic Staffordshire." For those of us who especially collect Romantic Staffordshire, the publication of this new Schiffer guide in November was a long-anticipated occasion. 100's of glossy beautifully-photographed pieces and their markings, with detailed histories of manufacture, descriptions and origins of motifs, histories of significant Staffordshire potteries, and even estimates of value create an astonishing identification tool for all collectors, serious or casual. Thank you, Schiffer!

I truly enjoyed this book. This is the most detailed account of the Saturday Evening Girls that I have found. The pictures are marvelous...

I bought this for my wife who is a potter as a hobby. She likes the book a great deal and continues to use it extensively as she does her pottery design work. It seems to be a very good reference document with great pictures.

I have a large web site celebrating carved dolls with several web pages about Schoenhut dolls. I use this book as my main reference for Schoenhut dolls.

I love this book. Carol's method of presenting the dolls by Schoenhut model numbers has changed the way modern doll collectors refer to these dolls. Now a collector might state, "I have a 316 in mint condition". Thanks to Carol, others will be able to picture her doll clearly in our mind.

Carol's stories about the Schoenhut family members and each of their very active involvement with the toy company puts a very personal slant on the history of this family oriented company. It should be obvious from this book that the Schoenhut family took great pride in producing the best quality, durable dolls and toys because they loved children and enjoyed the great fun of watching children at play.

If you collect Schoenhut dolls, then you really NEED this book -- I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

I just love this book. If you collect Schoenhut dolls (or just one) you need this book. Beautiful photos of rare dolls, in depth history of the company, descriptions and examples of the the different models.... just a joy to read and look at.

This book's photography supports the authors narrative message: 1. Glass sculpture is beautiful.
2. Glass sculpture has a surprisingly extensive record of having been presented in fine art museums.

Martha Drexler Lynn writes with the voice of a fiction writer and the mind of a scholar. She takes us through the issues common to all sculpture over time and then visits 26 museum collections and discusses how sculpture made of glass found its way into those collections. This book will be interesting not only to art historians and scholars but to those interested in how works of art find their way into American museums. Museums studied range from the Metropolitan and the MFA Boston to excellent regional museums.

A must read for contemporary art collectors interested in learning about sculpture made of glass.

This is an excellent source for the collector of antique sewing implements. Full color illustrations of all priced objects make it easy to identify and place a value on pincushions, needlecases, thimbles and more. Not much text but price guides are generally short on text. If a price guide is what you want, I recommend this one.

Helen Lester Thompson's Sewing Tools & Trinkets is a collector's identification and value guide, covering everything from thimbles and needle holders to toys and trinkets. A very specific reference for the collector of sewing items.

Being a patch collector I have found this book invaluable in assisting me with this hobby. It has a been a great deal of help when searching for patches on various auction sites. The book is getting older (1997) and the patches do change so I hope they update soon. I wish someone would put together a book for Police Department patches. Well worth your money and I highly recommended this book.

I have been collecting Law Enforcement patches for many years and have no idea how I survived without this book. There is some brief explanation to the "Sheriff / County" system that was fairly informative. The pictures are excellent!!! They are a 25% ratio which allows for detail but keeps the size of the book realistic. So far I have only found one error (and I think thats it as I haven't put down the book in 3 days). It is from 1997 so there have been some changes which is impossible for the author to keep up with considering that there are over 3000 pictures / patches in this book. Bottom line .... Bravo, excellent and I believe it to be well worth the money. We can only hope for an updated version soon.

I am a Shirley Temple Doll Collector. I use this book for referencing dolls I want to buy or sells. Very informative, and a must have for anyone collecting Shirley Temple dolls.

This is an excellent book full of great color photos and descriptions of Shirley Temple collectibles. A must have for any Shirley collector!!

This is the finest book available on Cauldon, bar none. The pricing guides are helpful, the background information facinating, and although the photographs are sometimes a little out of focus, each page features multiple images of representative wares.

Quite simply the best reference work currently available on the output of Cauldon Ltd. and its predecessors and sucessors for over a century including helpful pricing guides. Because Cauldon's tableware patterns alone ran to several tens of thousands, this book could not be expected to address individually all of the company's products, but it does cover a broad enough sampling to make it the definitive work on its subject matter. Kudos to Robert Cluett for giving us this book.

As any stamp collector quickly finds out, there are a lot of countries that used to issue stamps that don't anymore. The history of postage stamps is linked to the history of the countries that issued them, which can make things very confusing without some background knowledge. As colonies changed hands, countries were occupied, and new nations came into being, new stamps were issued to carry the mail. It helps to have a good reference book to straighten things out.

"The Stamp Atlas" is such a book. It's an historical atlas, almanac and postal history reference all rolled into one. For each country, there are historical maps, brief write-ups concerning the political and postal history of the area (including the pre-stamp era), and illustrations of its stamps. There are also numerous maps of mail routes to get the postal historian going.

I resisted buying "The Stamp Atlas" for quite awhile, on the theory that most of its information was available elsewhere. That may be true, but it's a lot easier to have the basics in one concise volume. The only complaint I have is that the book's 1986 publication date makes it useless for the postal history of the last few decades. However, since many stamp collectors cut off their collections before the very recent period, that's less of a problem that it sounds. But an updated addition would be much appreciated.

This book is an invaluable reference for any stamp collector. If you collect worlwide stamps, owning this book is an absolute requirement!! It is well organized, very comprehensive and easy to use. Just owning this book has pointed out many holes in my collection by showing me the details of the political changes to which postage stamps are inherently tied. The world has changed much since 1986, however, and an updated version would be helpful at times.