Customer Reviews

Collector's Encyclopedia of Depression Glass

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have been buying Gene Florence's glass books (Depression, Elegant, 40's-50's-60's, Kitchen, Fire king)since the late 1980's. I have kept them all to use as they have different pictures. I've seen him branch off from a few books to a lot of books. For years his books were the leading resource to buying glass. In the last few years I have noticed a decline in his materials. I started buying Barbabra Mauzys glass books to go along with the ones from Florence. Florence was sadly way behind in getting up to date reproduction news in his books-Mauzey was much more up to date with describing the fakes pouring on the market. Mauzy's book have WAY more pictures. Mauzy seemed to price items a little higher than I was seeing, while Florence priced items a little lower. I found a good medium in comparing the two. I have dealt in selling glass since the late 1980's-in Antique malls and on the internet. When this edition of this book & his new 40-50-60's book came out I rushed out to buy them. I have NEVER been more disappointed in a buying experience in my life. Florence slashed prices in both books on almost all of the patterns by 40, sometimes 50% or more (seriously-a cherry blossom pink dinner plate only listed as being worth $1 ?!)! I, and other dealers have been noting the fact that with each edition he is seeming farther and farther out of touch. I believe his age and time in the field is showing and he is getting ready to retire?....sad thing is it looks as though he's trying to take the glass business with him. I plan to never again buy any of his books (unless they're dirt cheap on here for picture value only). I say if you want a book with lots more pictures, more information, more patterns, and more up to date reproduction news-don't buy this book-buy Mauzys!

Like many people who collect depression glass, I stumbled into it while breaking up housekeeping in my grandmother's house last summer. As we went through her cabinets and packed up the things she couldn't take to her assisted living facility, I found numerous pieces of pretty colored glass that I took simply because I enjoyed the various colors and patterns. When my mom suggested that some of it was depression-era glass, I went to the library and found a previous edition of the Florence's book and went nuts when I saw what these pieces were worth. My grandma did too! Later that fall, the book was indispensible when we were cleaning out my great-grandmother's house to put it up for auction. I found 5 large boxes full of glass. This book was very useful in helping catagorize what I had, and how much to insure all of it for.

This edition of the book is great because of it's photographs of each pattern. It makes it very easy to identify a lot of pieces just on sight. It also contains extremely useful information on reproductions which is fantastic to have when looking for glass, particularily at flea markets, estate sales and online where a lot of people mislabel patterns. The pricing is also helpful so you can see when people are simply trying to make a huge profit, rather than asking a reasonable amount.

The reason I only gave this book 4 stars, though, is because there are many patterns that are not included in this edition. In the foreward, it's stated that not all patterns are contained because it would cause the price of the book to increase. However, by excluding several patterns, you are forced to purchase another book which means spending more money as well. The book is also difficult to bring along to antique stores because of it's size--most stores won't let you bring in a large purse or bag. But overall, if you are a new collector or looking to become one, this is an important book to have in your library.

Updated for 19th Edition (last one, they retired):

Well, the 19th edition is almost identical to the 18th edition with the exception of prices. That is not a bad thing. (I created a real index for 18th ed, so when I updated it the 19th edition I saw only a few pages were modified). They have FINALLY gotten realistic with pricing, the common pieces dropped by 50% and the rarer pieces dropped by 25% or so. I know dealers and hoarders don't like it, but sky-high prices stopped casual collectors dead in their tracks. With shipping, eBay prices come out about right for MINT pieces. Prices at retail don't regularly sell above this book price (you'll see plenty marked higher, but they've been sitting on the shelf for years.)

This is the best book out there for dealers of depression glass, but the authors/publisher once again forgot a usable index or table of contents. To make matters worse, some patterns are still alphabetized as No. ###. No index of alternate names (some patterns have 3 or 4 commonly used names). The table of contents is the same as the alphabetical listing by page, totally useless. The official company name is the pattern name it is ordered under, regardless of the popularity of other names.

Pictures are great. Verbiage for patterns normally indicates the marketability of the pattern, but wish there was a prominent "popularity score" above each color the pattern comes in. Some colors in some patterns have absolutely no buyers, at any price above a buck or two, which is an extremely valuable piece of information. Would recommend using --,-,+,++.

They use a purist definition of depression, so you'll have to also buy the 40s 50s 60s book and the Elegant Glassware book to complete your reference of what is commonly known as depression glass (the Mauzy's book is much better at selecting patterns to include). There are pictures for about 1/2 of the pieces available, and generally a larger closeup for pattern identification. My success of pattern identification from the photos is probably 95% (best we've seen). Reproductions are listed in the back, not as useful as being integrated into the "real" pattern pages but still very useful.

If you are a collector, I would highly recommend purchasing this book before it goes out of print. The authors have retired. This is considered the "bible" of depression glass.

Gene Florence books are the best sources of reference on this subject. This one was priced well, sent quickly and arrived in great condition.

Book covered depresion glass very well, and I learned I just don't have depression glass, so I'll still be looking for a book to help me know what I have.

I was pleased with the speed this book arrived and it was in new condition as represented in the description of the book. Thank you for sending so promptly.

This book had a lot of interesting information with prices and rarity of pieces of depression glass. This book helps a lot in knowing what I have.

I have really enjoyed this book. I work in a consignment shop and we get a lot of antique glass - It has helped us a lot with pricing it too!

anyone interested in finding out what they have or what to look for, as far as depression glass or collectible glass, Gene Florance is the person to look for. I've got most editions of his books. and my parents also swore by his books. every edition has a little something extra, different or new. easy to follow and excellent pictures!

A must have book for begining collectors of depression glass -- good pricing - if you don't buy on e-bay - if you go to the glass shows gives you fair prices for most items -- e-bay buyers - GOOD LUCK, most everything is WAY, way over the value of the item you want.