The Observer's Book of Glass - No. 62
The Observer's Book of Glass is No. 62 in the series. Written by Mary and Geoffrey Payton, it was first published in 1976, primarily for those with the collecting bug - but is also an easy reference book.
An introductory chapter is included with this book and chronicles the early development of glass. It briefly looks at the influences of differing time periods from ancient Egypt through to 'Roman Glass' and concludes by looking at more modern glass makers, such as Tiffany or Bristol Blue.
Above: the Warne edition (left) and the Bloomsbury edition (right)
For ease of reference, this book has an A-Z of glass, accompanied by 95 half-tone illustrations and eight pages of colour photographs - showing some exquisite examples of glass types and styles.
Many glass producing regions are touched on throughout the book, including the UK , Venice , Germany , USA and Ireland . Information about the manufacture and decoration of glass are also provided - which should prove useful to the collector in the identification of certain items.
Frederick Warne originally published this title in hardback, with a wrapper that has a photo of a distinctive Bristol blue vase, with Giles-decorated bird. To be sure that you have a 1 st edition of this title - the printers code, printed on the publishers information page is: 608.1175. Bloomsbury later re-published this title, in the 1990's, but this time in laminate format. However, the same photo is still shown on the front cover of the book.
(Published on 24th Nov 2015 )