Standard Encyclopedia of Pressed Glass [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Bill Edwards (Author), Mike Carwile (Author)

Book Description

Series: Standard Encyclopedia of Pressed Glass | Publication Date: February 15, 2007

American pressed glass, which was at its zenith in the 1870s, entails hundreds of patterns and dozens of shapes with elaborate geometric, animal, fruit, and floral designs. Available in crystal and sparkling colors, this collectible glassware flourished until the end of the 1920s. This all-new collector s encyclopedia features approximately 230 new photographs, most of them for new patterns, bringing the total to more than 1,600 photos showcasing the exquisite patterns and beautiful colors of the quality pressed glass produced for 60 years in America. Bill Edwards and Mike Carwile are authorities on pressed, carnival, and opalescent glass, and the sales of their other four editions prompted this fifth edition. This encyclopedia is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also historically correct. Collectors are sure to be pleased with Standard Encyclopedia of Pressed Glass, Fifth Edition. 2007 values.

Editorial Reviews

Review

There is good general information on glass terminology and on some of the important glass makers of the era. Examples are of many different pieces and there is a very informative paragraph on each piece. Most of the photos are clear. However, my one complaint is that some of the photos, in particular of the clear glass, are not clear enough to show the details of the patterns. This makes identification nearly impossible in these cases. I still find this a helpful reference...-Nancy Clark

About the Author

Bill Edwards is a noted expert on pressed, carnival, and opalescent glass, and has been authoring books since 1975. He now co-authors books with expert Mike Carwile. His knowledge is unsurpassed in the glass world. He has written books on Carnival Glass, Northwood Carnival Glass, Millersburg Glass, Opalescent glass, Rarities of Carnival Glass, and Pressed Glass.

Mike Carwile is a noted expert on pressed, carnival, and opalescent glass, and has been authoring books since 1996. His knowledge is unsurpassed in the glass world. He has co-authored books on carnival glass, millersburg glass, opalescent glass, and pressed glass.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Collector Books; 5 edition (February 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574325485
• ISBN-13: 978-1574325485
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,814,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book has far too many errors. I can't recommend it., March 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Standard Encyclopedia of Pressed Glass 1860-1930: Identification & Values (Hardcover)

Authors are human, books aren't easy to write, and it's to be expected that books will contain some errors, however the number of errors in this book is much too high. While doing a cursory read-through, I found over 40 glaring errors and suspect that an in-depth look would reveal even more. In many cases patterns are mis-identified. In some cases the same pattern is identified as two different patterns. In other cases a pattern will be illustrated and the illustrations won't all be the same pattern. In still other cases the authors have re-named patterns with existing and accepted names. I truly feel that the publisher has done the glass collecting community a disservice by publishing this one and that's not a statement I make lightly. Beginning collectors especially should be wary. If you're going to use this book for glassware identification, be sure to use a backup source. I truly wish I had something better to say, but as someone who cares about accuracy and particularly about providing good information to beginning collectors, I'm afraid I don't.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars this book should never have been published, December 7, 2003

By 

W. Eberhart (Crosby, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Standard Encyclopedia of Pressed Glass: 1860 - 1930 Identification & Values (Hardcover)

I have been buying and selling pressed glass for 30 years
and I can agree with reviewer 'a reader' totally. I have read 3
other books by this writer and consider them all as incompetently done as this one.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good source for identifying early pattern glass, September 5, 2005

By 

A Viewer "Ceramicsguy" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Standard Encyclopedia of Pressed Glass: 1860-1930 Identification & Values (Hardcover)

Some of the reviews of this book surprise me. I have seen similar negative comments written about these authors on separate web sites, and no doubt the comments here are by the same people. My experience with this book is this....the main appeal to this book is that there are literally hundreds and hundreds of patterns identified, and by using the photos in this book, I've been able to identify pieces in my collection that I previously could not. Certainly I wish there was more information and detail written about each pattern...this book lists maybe a line or two about each pattern only, with no to few comments about reproductions. So, I use this book in conjunction with other pattern glass books (Reilly and Jenks, Warman's, etc) to get the most comprehensive picture I can. Some of the pictures are not super clear. Compared to other books which don't list many patterns at all and then do so in black and white or hand drawing, I'll live with it. I would imagine photographing the detail on clear glass isn't easy! I guess I'll summarize by saying that while the book is not perfect, it certainly takes a good stab at trying to organize information and photos of hundreds of pieces of glass from the turn of the century. Are there errors? Probably! But with all the fires in these glass companies over the years I am sure no one has the truth about everything.