Customer Reviews

Collector's Encyclopedia of Depression Glass

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Gene Florence's many pictorial guides to collectible antique glass are all wonderful and this beautiful fifteenth edition on Depression Glass is no exception. It contains hundreds of pieces of Depression Glass with details on the glass companies that made them, the history, the availability, individual pieces, price ranges, colors, patterns, etc. The photographs are all clear and very useful for identification purposes. Some vintage photos of advertisements show a few of the collections in their entirety.
This book is essential if you are planning to start collecting Depression Glass because you can see what pieces were produced and you can learn how feasible it will be to collect complete sets. There is valuable information about reproductions. Glass collecting today is often done over the Internet and some dealers sell Depression Glass with little knowledge of the particular patterns, their dimensions, or their distinctive qualities. It is easy to get similar looking pictures confused and end up with pieces that do not belong in your collection. Sometimes descriptions are in complete error. This book is an extremely helpful, professional guide that can prevent costly mistakes. It is also just plain fun to read up on the old historical pieces, such wonderful Americana art. Warning: You may get bitten by the Depression Glass bug just by paging through this lovely book. Have fun at the garage sales, antique stores and malls, antique shows, and auctions, but don't leave home without it! Check out Gene Florence's other great books, too. Another personal favorite of mine is Collectible Glassware from the 40s, 50s, 60s.

I have, admittedly, been a fan of Gene Florence's books since I first purchased his "The Collectors Encyclopedia of Depression Glass, Third Edition," back in 1977--I only wish I hadn't missed out on the first two volumes of this landmark series! Despite any negative comments by the occasional nay-sayer, Gene's "Collector's Encyclopedia of Depression Glass," series (along with its varied spinoff specialty volumes) is the best-written, best-photographed and most informative series on Depression-era glassware ever published. And his Fifteenth Edition is simply his best volume, ever! However, one caveat--these books are not intended as primers; they, along with their sister, spinoff series, are intended, and serve, to be the definitive works on this fascinating and challenging subject... While others might attempt to rest upon their laurels, Gene Florence has devoted his considerable talents to consistently striving to refine and redefine his past works into a dynamic and ever-evolving magnum opus. Certainly, new volumes, such as his Fifteenth, have seen familiar patterns disappear from its pages, and rightly so--historically newer patterns (such as "Bubble", "Daisy", Fire-King, "Floragold", "Forest Green", "Harp", "Moonstone" "Royal Ruby", and "Sandwich"...) have been migrated to his "Collectible Glassware from the 40s, 50s, 60s". Gene has replaced these, quite appropriately, with previously unlisted patterns such as "Adam's Rib", "Addie", "Amelia", "Berlin", "Crackle", "Flute & Cane", "Kaleidoscope", and "Lotus", to name but a few. In addition, Gene continually updates his very informative and indispensable "Reproductions" section with each volume, cautioning collectors as to the latest faux glassware and how to make a fully informed choice when considering items whose patterns have been copied, so as to avoid purchasing the far less valuable (or totally worthless) fakes! For anyone seriously interested in Depression Glass, the two aforementioned series, accompanied by such definitive sister series as "Kitchen Glassware", "Elegant Glassware of the Depression Era", "Very Rare Glassware of the Despression Years", and "Florence's Glassware Pattern Identification Guide", are, indeed, simply the best!

In Collectors Encyclopedia of Depression Glass, Gene Florence gives us another indispensible guide, as well as a fascinating colorful tour of the incredibly beautiful glassware that used to adorn the tables and shelves of the earlier part of the 20th century known as the depression era. ............... As an enthusiastic collector of depression, and many other types of glass, I can look at this volume over and over, still finding something new to research. I was in a relatives house and noticed a serving platter that looked familiar not long ago, memorized the basic pattern, and found it very quickly in this book. It was Columbia by the prolific Federal Glass Company, who I have collected quite a bit from for myself. Mr. Florence gives you a genuine education in any part of the glass world you are interested in, anytime you sit down with one of his references. You can look in alphabetical order pattern by name, and then get the history of when it was produced, see the colors it came in, and of course, a price guide that lets you get an idea of what your pieces are worth. Naturally the prices are for mint condition items. This is good for the seller and the buyer as well. It is always fun when you find out you have a valuable piece, particularly if you paid very little. .................... Another important section is the reproductions that Mr. Florence includes. This is helpful in weeding out the new issues that mimic the past. No one wants to pay antique prices for something made overseas recently, and there are a load to watch out for. Here you can see them very clearly and they are also described in detail, telling you what to look for to identify the real from the repros. ................ If you collect, sell or just want to know more about depression glass, look no further for a complete, in-depth, fascinating, colorful reference that you will pull off the shelf over and over again. Just don't knock down any of YOUR valuable glass when you do!

This book is such a thorough and in depth pattern reference book that encyclopedia in the title is NOT an understatement!There are so many different patterns,color pictures,and details about the companies that made these beauties that you may fall in love with this book like I did.I believe that if there is one book you need for researching collectible glass -this is it!

I personally found this book very helpful. I was able to id several family pieces, as well as many pieces I purchase for re-sale. This book has been an invaluable addition to my reference library. The only complaint I would have is that it is sometimes difficult to match the piece description with the photo. Some sort of numbering system similar to what he used in Kitchen Glassware of the Depression Years would be most helpful. But, there are MANY wonderful color photos and they are improving with each edition and his re-pro information and measurements have saved me from a poor purchase more than once.

I can review this reference in ONE word...EXCELLENT!

I was unimpressed with every aspect of this book and I am really wondering what Gene was really thinking when he attempted to sell this book to collectors?!?!?! I recently purchased a depression glass book by Barbara Mauzy and must say that she knows what she is doing. I am afraid that Gene's time is up and it is Barbara's time to shine. I would not reccommend Gene's book to anyone, however, I would highly reccommend Barbara's.