Books about Decanters and Antique Glass

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I have listed the books here in cronological order. Just because a reference book is old that doesn't mean it is useless. There are some great older books that are real value reference material. Also many older books have a section at the back on modern glass. These modern glass sections may have been contemporary when they were written but they are great historical references now. I have to admit though, the quality of some of the modern books is great. The other thing to remember, I am looking at these books from the point of view of a collector and how these books will help me identify antique glass.

Bibliography
Title Author Publisher Age Comments
Early English Glass Daisy Wilmer The Bazaar Exchange & Mart 1911 This is a great little book written by a collector full of pictures from her and husbands collections and the collections of others. There aren't that many pictures of decanters, but as a history of glass collecting 100 years ago, including discussions on prices, it's great. The adverts for glass dealers of the day are pretty cool. Enthusiasm oozes off the pages.
English Table Glass Perry Bates B.T.Batsford 1913 This man pretty much says decanters are boring. Only 3 decanters are pictured and 2 of those have the tops smashed off. My copy is leather bound and looks good on the shelf.
General Guide to the Art Collections - Part IX.-Glass - Chapter II.-Irish Glass M S D Westropp His Majesty's Stationary Office 1918 This is a little HMSO guide for the National Museum of Science and Art, Dublin. If you are serious about Irish Glass you should try to get this one, as it has some glass that is not in the later Westropp book, but it's clearly bonafide Irish glass because it is out of the Museum in Dublin. This is from just before Ireland became a republic and was a part of the UK.
The Glass Collector - A Guide to Old English Glass Maciver Perceval Herbert Jenkins 1920 Considering how old this book is, it's not bad with a few little gems of pictures I haven't seen elsewhere. The preface is charming as he talks about the new hobby of collecting old glass. There is a nice section where he is giving some prices made at auction, looks really cute now, and 6 $ to the £. Not a lot of decanters though.
English and Irish Glass W A Thorpe The Medici Society 1927 A well illustrated book with a scattering of decanter illustrations. W A Thorpe was the curator of the V&A so probably as trustworthy as you are going to get for an older book.
Old Glass Beautiful Thomas Rohan Mills & Boon 1930 Don't buy this book for knowledge, buy it for the flowery narrative, and fancy thick paper. On some pages there is a picture full rummers, he tells you they are rummers, but some of them aren't and not further details are provided. Don't hang you hat on this book.
Old Glass and How to Collect It J. Sydney Lewis T Werner Luarie Ltd. 1934 Some illustrations of Irish decanters and other bits and piecesI haven't seen elsewhere. Has some current auction prices in it just for laughs.
English Glass W A Thorpe A & C Black 1935 A good history of glass from the Assistant Keeper of the V&A. Not so good for decanter collectors. The V&A supply pictures to other authors and you will see some of this glass in other books.
Old Glass European and American N. Hudson Moore Hodder and Stoughton 1935 An interesting book as he talks about various people he consulted whilst making the book and one is Elizabeth Graydon-Stannus, who tells him there are lots of fake Irish glass about from the Continent whilst in fact her glass company was producing fakes. Has a good section on early American glass.
American Glass George S. and Helen McKearin Crown Publishers 1941 This is a beast of a book with masses of detail. I am not in the USA but if you are collecting Georgian glass and you have some oddities in your collection this is a book to get. Even though this is an older book it's well illustrated and I am realiably informed that it's reliable.
English Glass W. B. Honey V & A Museum 1946 This is really a V&A Museum souvenir, so flip to page 45 in the modern glass section there is a Webb Corbett decanter I haven't seen illustrated elsewhere. You're done.
Glass W. B. Honey V & A Museum 1948 A good historical book, unfortunately he seems not have strayed far the usual V&A examples that are used by other books.
The Manufacture of Glass L M Angus-Butterworth Pitman 1948 If you want to know about UK glass production in 1948 this book is for you. Some contemporary pictures that include decanters.
English and Irish Cut Glass 1750-1950 E. M. Elville Country Life Limited 1953 Whilst not a huge book it's interesting in that it looks at antique glass through the lens of cut glass only. It has some illustrations, but the best bit is the explanations of the cutting techniques.
Chats on Old Glass R A Robertson Benn 1954 One of the first books on antique glass I bought. A totally charming book, but not much help to the decanter collector.
From Broad-Glass to Cut Crystal D R Guttery Leonard Hill 1956 A good history with lots of small details about those involved in the glass industry. The pieces of "modern" glass illustrated make it well worth it as a reference.
British Table and Ornamental Glass L M Angus-Butterworth Leonard Hill 1956 Lots of contemporary pictures of glass, including decanters. For some of this glass I haven't seen it illustrating in any other book. Lots of details of glass manufacturers from the time of writing of the book. Because it is an old book that is mainly about contemporary glass this is a good book to have today. Nice book.
English, Scottish and Irish Table Glass G. Bernard Hughes Bramhall House 1956 A good book with lots of well described decanter illustrations. Not having the detailed descriptions with the illustrations is a bit of pain. It does feel like not a lot of effort and research went into the illustrations. Having a page full of decanters and saying they are all first half of the 19th century feels lazy. Especially as one looks to be 18th century. It also stops at 1820, so it is really an old school collectors book.
English Glass for the Collector 1660-1860 G. Bernard Hughes Lutterworth Press 1958 Mr. Hughes strikes again, a dense pack of knowledge and illustrations. Good Book.
English Table Glass E M. Elville Country Life 1960 Originally published in 1951, the one I have was published in 1960 and is a revised version. There is a lot of museum quality glass in this book, but it does have some nice illustrated descriptions features, cutting patterns etc.. Also the way some of the illustrations are laid out is quite nicely done. Has some what might be considered modern glass from 1951. Althought the book is called English Table Glass, he obviously couldn't help himself as there are two and a half pages illustrating Irish decanters.
How to Identify English Drinking Glasses and Decanters 1680-1830 Douglas Ash G.Bell & Sons Ltd 1962 Good little book with pictures and explanatory diagrams. Unfortunately it does stop at 1830, which historically is where previous glass connoisseurs decided that the golden age glass antiques ended. Totally arbitrary as we know that the golden age of glass never ends.
Bristol and Other Coloured Glass John Bedford Cassell 1964 This book is a slim volume that is part of a set on various antiques. The kind of thing you would collect and make into a one big book. It has some nice detail and some things I've not seen else where. It's kind of book you should get if it's going cheap, because it gives you a bit of extra knowledge.
English Crystal Glass John Bedford Cassell 1966 This book is a slim volume that is part of a set on various antiques, however, unlike the one on Bristol glass, this one is trying to stretch a bigger subject into the same small place. Also, when you consider the size and title of the book, why would you squeeze an Irish decanter in.
The Country Life Book of Glass Frank Davis Country 1966 A very generic glass history book full of museum quality stuff. This might sound good, but only if you have massively deep pockets or are extremely lucky as you are bumbling around looking for something good.
English Glass Sydney Crompton Ward Lock 1967 Well illustrated book, with a good, illustrated, section on decanters.
Glass Philosophy and Method John Burton Pitman 1967 This is a bit of a weird book. It's kind of "my travels with glass" mixed with "I can make glass things". When I say things I mean things. Maybe I am being a bit harsh, but this book doesn't stand up strong in the harsh daylight.
Old Glass O. N. Wilkinson Benn 1968 Don't start hunting this book down, it has all the standard history stuff in it, and all the usual museum stock photos you see elsewhere.
English and Irish Glass Geoffrey Wills Guinness Signatures 1968 A great book, as in addition to have having a chapter on decanters, decanters are used as examples in many other chapters. Also many of the illustrations are from dealers stock, auction houses and collections, so it's not the usual museum fodder you sometimes see.
Hallmarks of Antique Glass R. Wilkinson Richard Madley Ltd. 1968 A great book, must buy for any serious glass collector. Great value reference book, written by someone who has long experience of working in the glass industry and obviously loves it.
Modern Glass Geoffrey Beard Studio Vista 1968 This is a book written about modern glass but over 50 years ago. It's a slim volume, but it is packed with snippets if useful information because it was current information. I got it for a couple of quid and it's worth it for that price. It has 120 illustrations which a a mix of things you are never going to find in the wild and some more common things.
Investing in Georgian Glass W Lloyd T Werner Luarie Ltd. 1969 Gets to page 28 before getting to the matter in hand. Doesn't always date the items illustrated, frustrating.
Irish Glass Phelps Warren Faber 1970 Nerdvana for Irish glass collectors. A great book with lots of details and decanter illustrations. If you have any interest in Irish glass you must have this book as I haven't seen many of the illustrations elsewhere. What is especially nice are the collections of crappy bits of glass that belong to the author's collection. Forget all that museum crap, lets see what real people collect and see some of it identified, thank you very much.
The price guide to English 18th Century Drinking Glasses George Turnbull and Anthony Herron Antique Collectors Club 1970 If you can't afford L. M. Bickertons massive tome on 18th Century drinking glasses, buy this. It doesn't have as many illustrations but it covers the bases and it's published by the Antiques Collectors Club, so it has that seal of approval. If nothing else buy it for the ridiculous prices in 1970.
Antique Glass for pleasure and investment Geoffrey Wills John Gifford 1970 This book goes completely off the deep end, showing things that are either not for sale or totally impractical to store or display unless you live in a mansion.
Glass for Collectors Derek C. Davis Hamlyn 1971 This is kind of a generic book for beginners, but what is interesting is that all the illustrations are drawn/painted like and childrens book of the period. I would buy Derek Davis' other books first.
Antique Coloured Glass Keith Middlemas Ferndale 1971 Not a good book for decanter collectors, but if you want to go off the beaten path of plain old English glass this is a nicely illustrated book with a lot of continental old and art glass.
English Bottles & Decanters 1650-1900 Derek C Davis Letts 1972 A great little book for any decanter collector. Lots of well photographed decanters from private and local collections. There are a few dodgy stoppers, but who am I to talk. Well worth a punt. Also, I would like to point out that although Derek said this was English Bottles and Decanters, he couldn't help himself and sneaks a couple of Irish ones in for good measure.
Victorian Glass Betty O'Looney V & A Museum 1972 A nice souvenir from the V&A but not great if you wanted a bit more info than a few pictures.
Glass Geoffrey Wills Orbis 1972 This is a large format but slim book with a lot of illustrations. This is not quite a cut a paste book of museum photos as there are a number of glass dealer supplied photos. This means from the point of view trying to identify stuff this book has some things I've not seen elsewhere.
Collecting Glass Norman W. Webber David & Charles Ltd. 1972 This is a must buy book. It has a lot of illustrations from the authors collection, which means he is describing and dating glass that mortals can find and buy. I actualy own a decent proportion of the glass illustrated, and if a bottom feeding collector like me can own it, so can you.
English Drinking Glasses Ronald Gabriel Letts 1974 This has no decanters but it is from the same series of books as the slightly earlier Derek Davies one on decanters. It's going to be a cheap little book but it is a nicely illustrated reference and you can't go wrong buying it (if it's cheap).
Danish Glass 1814-1914, The Peter f. Heering Collection Bent Wolstrup The Royal Scottish Museum 1975 Although this is niche it is useful for anyone trying pick out old English glass. A lot of older glass from the Continent is kind of generic soda glass and this book illustrates it very well. A really good book for helping you to get it right.
A Background for Glass Collectors Sylvia Coppen-Gardner Pelham Books 1975 This is really a history book about glass making and is not really going to help you identify any pieces you encounter. It didn't particularly have any new revelations for me.
Dictionary of British Antique Glass Douglas Ash Pelham Books 1975 This is not a book for pictures, but it does have quite a lot of line drawings. If you are interested in older glass this is a must buy, but not to use as a dicitonary. What Douglas Ash is good at is describing progression in styles, so read this end to end and learn something. It will help you date glass just by style.
Glass Ruth Hurst Vose Ebury Press 1975 This is a book that has the works ordered by manufacturing technique. All I can say is that this is not a good way laying out a book such as this, as it has resulted in some very strange bedfellows rubbing up against each other. If you were looking for anything in particular you are not going to find it in a hurry, as nearly all glass is made using multiple techniques.
Things We Need - Glass Colin Clair Bruce & Gawthorn Ltd. 197? Not for collectors unless you want to know about how glass is made. If you really want to know I would go for the L. M. Angus-Butterworth Glass Manufacturing book. This book is more concise, so if it's in front of you for a couple of pounds, buy it.
Irish Volunteer Glass Catriona Mac Leod National Museum of Ireland 19?? There's no publication date in this booklet but as it's published by a museum it's timeless (they can count that as a dig in the ribs as museums must know dates are important). Unless you are seriously into Irish glass then don't buy this as it's very niche and you are extremely unlikely to find anything in it in the wild. I'm into Irish glass so I bought it, and dream about finding super rare stuff.
English 'Rock Crystal' Glass 1878 - 1925 Charles Hajdamach Dudley Art Gallery 1976 This leaflet is from an exhibition in Dudley, unfortunately it's not well illustrated, and the glass that is shown is very rare, so only helpful to the risk collectors.
An illustrated Dictionary of Glass Harold Newman Thames and Hudson 1977 Theoretically a great idea, in practice not so great. If you are going to read the whole thing it's quite good, but not so good if you really want to find something. When you collecting, so see something and want to know what it is, at that point you don't know the word you are looking for. He tried.
Irish Glass Dudley Westropp Alan Figgis 1978 The original Nerdvana for Irish glass collectors, this was originally printed in 1920, but I have the slightly expanded reprinted edition edited by Mary Boydell. A great book with lots of details and decanter illustrations. If you have any interest in Irish glass you must have this book as I haven't seen many of the illustrations elsewhere. It seems Dudley Westropp started that tradition of showing their own bits form their own collection, and I say, "good on you Dudley" for kicking off such a great tradition. Buy this version of the book as it has extras added by Mary Boydell.
The Art of Feat and Mystery H.W. Woodward Mark and Moody 1978 This is a book about Thomas Webb & Sons. Thomas Webb is so under represented in reference books, and I am afraid this slim volume of a book doesn't really take you forward. Way too slim, and far too few illustrations.
Historic Glass Ian Wolfenden Merseyside County Council 1979 Just a few decanters. One is marked Cork Glass Co. from the Graydon Stannus collection....Hmmmm. Google "Fake Irish Glass" for background.
Collecting Decanters Jane Hollingworth Studio Vista/Christie's 1980 This is published by Christie's and it shows. It's a good book if you have deep pockets, i.e. lots of money to spend on glass. On the plus side the drawings to help identify/name features are very good. . I am also a little surprised at what she hasn’t identified in some of the genres that have been included.
The Arthur Negus Guide to British Glass John Brooks Hamlyn 1981 Whilst this has Arthur Negus's name in the title it was written by John Brooks. In general a decent book with a section on decanters. My only criticism is that some of his dates seem a little off when compared to other books.
Decorative Vistorian Glass Cyril Manley Ward Lock 1981 The title is a lie as there is plenty of post 1900 glass in this book. This is not the type of reference book that is going to tell you everything you need to know about antique glass, but it does have lots of great illustrations and nuggets of information I have not seen elsewhere. This is illustrated from the authors collection, so it is not filled with museum pieces, but with what is acheivable by a long term collector. If you already have several glass reference books this one will fit in nicely.
Glass and Glassmaking Roger Dodsworth Shire Publications Ltd 1982 Lots of the books on collecting glass have a chapter or two on early glass making, if you want to always skip those chapters, buy this booklet, it does a very good job of it.
Antique Collectors pocket guides - Sweetmeat and Jelly Glasses Therle Hughes Lutterworth Press 1982 If you can't afford the L.M. Bickerton tome on 18th century English drinking glasses this book will fill a bit of the gap in your references by covering these chapters. The disadvantage of this book is that it doesn't consistently date the illustrated examples, and on the plus side it crosses into the 19th century.
Decanters and Glasses Therle Hughes Country Life Books 1982 This book is not lavishly illustrated, but a lot of these pictures include things that are not shown elsewhere or at least not widely illustrated. I paid £2 for my copy and definitely worth buying if you see it going cheap, if only to see a few extras.
Phaidon Guide to Glass Felice Melhman Phaidon 1982 A good book for general glass collecting, but not great for decanters. Also if I see another book with a picture of that Penrose Waterford decanter with stars on, I will out the writer as a lazy author.
The Peacock and the Lions Sheilagh Murray Oriel Press 1982 There are two subtitles to this book, first is; The Story of Pressed Glass of the North East of England, and second is: A History and Manual for Collectors. I would say the Jenny Thompson book is a bit better, but this book was worth every penny of the £10 I paid for it. If you collect pressed glass you need this one too. Also, from her picture, Sheilagh Murray looks like a lovely lady.
Nineteenth Century British Glass Hugh Wakefield Faber & Faber 1982 A good title, it's a pity he stuck to museums to illustrate this book. There are some interesting decanters but you can see them illustrated in other books. A bit of a lazy book. If you are just go to peruse this book and leave it, go to page 36 for a good goggle, there is a 1838 advert for Apsley Pellatts that's worth a look.
The Krug Collection of Glass Part IV Sotheby's Sotheby's 1983 If you want a glimpse of glass collecting by multi-millionaires then this is the book for you. Don't expect to see any of this stuff in your local antiques centre.
English Glassware to 1900 Charles Truman Victoria and Albert Museum 1984 The V&A are a big museum so they must be able to do better than this. It's mainly the stock pictures that are used in other books. There is only one exciting page and that is the page of factory drawings from John Blades. If you see if for a pound, buy it for that page.
The Book of Wine Antiques Robin Butler and Gillian Walkling Antique Collectors Club 1986 If you have all the decanters you possibly want (not possible) and want to branch out into accessories then you need this book, as it has lots of boys toys to go with your decanters and make owning them a more enjoyable experience. To top it off it has some good stuff on decanters too.
Glass Signatures Trademarks and Trade Names Anne Geffken Pullin Wallace-Homestead 1986 A must have book for any serious glass collector. This is the most comprehensive guide I have seen to glass marks. Don't expect it to cover everything as I have found a few marks it didn't have that were in other books.
Glass Twentieth Century Design Frederick Cooke Bell & Hyman Limited 1986 If you are nerd like me this is a nice book as it talks about glass from a design perspective. It also has a some pictures of glass I haven't seen elsewhere. If you are interested in design buy this.
British Glass between the Wars Roger Dodsworth Dudley Leisure Services 1987 If you are interested in British art deco glass then you must this book. It is not so much of a book but more of a big programme of exhibition at the Broadfield Glass Museum in Dudley. Lots of good references in this book too.
A Beilby Odyssey James Rush Nelson & Saunders 1987 This not a book to help you buy decanters, it s a book to slaver over the contents of, it is glass collecting porn. You are never going to get any of this stuff at any reasonable price, it would be like winning the lottery, however it is a great book if you want to know the details of glass making in the 1700s. A well researched book written with an obvious love of the subject.
The Identification of English Pressed Glass, 1842-1908 Jenny Thompson Jenny Thompson 1989 This is a pretty good self published book. Make sure you get the supplement that goes with it. It has about 110 pages of illustrations, but experience is telling me you need at least 1000 to cover this subject. That I know of, that book doesn't exist. You need the supplement because 30 pages of 110 pages are in the supplement.
Acid Etched Glass 1850-1930 Jeanette Hayhurst Jeanette Hayhurst 1990 This booklet is a bit niche, but what makes it good is that it covers a lot of forms of glass from the Victorian era, so if you ignore the etching it is dating glasses from the Victorian era, and Jeanette Hayhurst was a very reputable glass dealer.
Glass Antiques Checklist Mark West Miller's 1994 For a small pocket book this quite good, with a nice little section on decanters. I wish it had attributed more of the pictures as there are some decanters not seen in other references.
British Glass 1800-1914 Charles Hajdamach Antique Collectors Club 1995 A really good book, as you would expect from the Antique Collectors Club. There are lots of original factory illustrations for designs and illustrated descriptions of various glass making techniques. The key problem is it tells you how much you don't know, you now know there are lots of books of factory line drawings of designs and you are desperate to know what is in them, or at least I am.
Five Thousand Years of Glass Hugh Tait British Museum Press 1995 If you are a decanter collector this is a useless book. If you like antique glass it's a great book. Hugh Tait has impeccable taste in selecting items as there is very little here I wouldn't want to grace my mantle piece, a part from a few massive pieces that wouldn't fit. Also the section at the back demonstrating the manufacturing techniques is great. Nice one Hugh.
Whitefriars Glass, The Art of James Powell & Sons Lesley Jackson Richard Dennis 1997 Sometimes you think; who cares about the writing, give me lots of pictures and tell me what things are. From a collecting point of view you can have all the flowery descriptions you like, but without pictures you might walk by a thing and not know what it is. This book supplies in spades and if you are a Whitefriars collector it is a must have book. I don't think all the main decanters produced by Whitefriars are in here as I have few that I know to be Whitefriars that are not in this book. See it buy it.
The Glass of John Walsh Walsh 1850-1951 Eric Reynolds Richard Dennis 1999 A great little book written by an enthusiast. If you don't have enough material just print the pages of every factory pattern book you can get your hands on. It works for me. My only criticism would be that either the book format is too small or you shouldn't have tried to cram 4 pattern book pages onto every book page, as the drawn pictures are tiny. Still a good book though.
Antique Glass John Sandon Antique Collectors Club 1999 I have to say I am dissappointed by this book. It is from the Antique Collectors Club "Starting to Collect Series". This is not a book for people starting to collect, this is a book for people with deep pockets. To me, starting to collect, for the vast majority of people, means they have a few spare pounds and would like some advice on buying something nice. For most of the stuff in here, it's really nice stuff but you are not realistic going to buy it unless you are attending high end auctions or going to fancy dealers, and even then you might not find it. John needed to get real.
Glass of the '20s & '30s Frankie Leibe Miller's 1999 Although this book doesn't have many decanter illustrations, it does have some I haven't seen elsewhere and they are well identified. The glass marks reference in the back is handy and it also has a couple I have not seen illustrated elsewhere. Handy book.
20th Century Factory Glass Lesley Jackson Rizzoli 2000 I am a fan of the Lesley Jackson Whitefriars book but I found this book frustrating. Visually it gives you a sniff of a lot of glass manufacturers. It could have done with being twice as thick and just had more pictures. It does have a load of decanter pictures I haven't seen else where. In this case more is really, more please.
A Wine Lovers Glasses, The A.C.Hubbard Jr. Collection Ward Lloyd Richard Dennis 2000 This book straddles a single mans collection. Take it from me it is nothing like my collection. This is a demonstration of what you can do with very deep pockets. There is some really nice glass though, and it looks to be well attributed.
Miller's Popular Glass of the 19th & 20th Centuries Raymond Notley Miller's 2000 At first glance it might look like a useful book but you have to bare in mind that this is a US book. If you are in the US and into pressed glass it will be quite useful, but if you are in the UK, not so much.
Miller's Glass of the '50s & '60s Nigel Benson Miller's 2002 This is a 64 page booklet, but they are quite cheap and are good. Authored by Nigel Benson, to me that makes it totally trustworthy. Although this is a small it does have some references I've not seen elsewhere.
Decanters 1760-1930 David Leigh Shire Books 2002 Shire Books are the purveyors of those slim cheap reference books you often find on stands near the entrance of antiques centres. I have quite a few of them and they are great little books and this one is no exception. David Leigh does the business for Shire with a well illustrated mix of the great and humble. Adds a few decanters I haven't seen illustrated elsewhere.
Art Deco to Post Modernism, A Legacy of British Art Deco Glass Nigel Benson and Jeanette Hayhurst Liber Vitreorum Publications 2003 This is a 40 page pamphlet but packs a lot of info about UK mid-century glass that you won't find anywhere else. What makes it especially good is it is all the cut glass you should be buying from this period because a lot of it was dross. That may seem cruel but it's true. You should really be looking for glass that is from a period and not that is pastiches of other eras, especially if the quality is not there either.
The Decanter Andy McConnell Antique Collectors Club 2004 Should be called The Decanter Bible. All decanter collectors should have this, but unfortunately it is out of print and hideously expensive. If you are a decanter geek you still have to get this book as it has lots of information not seen elsewhere and rather authoritatively squashes some of the assumptions of other books. If you can't afford this book, write to Mr.McConnell and tell him it needs a rerun, and whilst you are about it, ask him when he is going to do volume II.
20th Century Glass Judith Miller Dorling Kindersley 2004 This book seems very thinly spread and doesn't seem to give you a feel for what any of the manufacturers are really like. It also has a lot of one off art glass too. This book looks good but not a great reference.
Miller's 20th Century Glass Andy McConnell Miller's 2006 It's an Andy McConnell book, what more can I say. Buy this book before you buy any of the other 20th century glass books that are out there. The thing about the glass in here is it's the glass you are going to find, not the unobtainable stuff that you are never ever going to see apart from in a book.
Dartington Glass the First Twenty Years, 1967-87 Linda and Stuart Smithson Linda and Stuart Smithson 2007 A self published book that deserves to be purchased. What makes this book great is that they have photographed every single piece of glass put out by the factory for the years indicated. If you are going to collect or deal Dartington this is a must have, as it also highlights which are the rare pieces.
20th Century British Glass Charles Hajdamach Antique Collectors Club 2009 If you bought the Andy McConnell book you need to put your hand in your pocket and get this one. This will be more expensive, will have more glass you are unable to buy, does have a higher proportion of words to pictures, but it has a lot of good references to glass you will see out and about that you won't see elsewhere.
Great British Wine Accessories 1550-1900 Robin Butler Brown & Brown 2009 This is really a book for people with deep pockets, however there are a few nearly affordable things in it. I think Robin has spread himself a bit too thinly with this book as even me, a lowly cheapskate collector, has spotted a few incorrect attributes amongst the decanters. This makes me wonder about the rest of the book.
Glass Making in Ireland John M. Hearne Irish Academic Press 2010 This is not a well illustrated book glass-wise, but if you are into the history of Irish glass making this is a great book. Also the reference section is really detailed, so you know this is a properly researched book.
Whitefriars Revisited 1935-1969 Chris Woolman Haybarn Glass 2016 Somewhere I have said that this site is based on the premise that, in this world, people want see a picture of something and have a description of what it is. Collectors are not interested in all those fancy words, they just want to know; what it is? This pamphlet does that, and it has some things not in the other Whitefriars books. So if you are a Whitefriars collector, contact Haybarn Glass and get your copy of it.
The Decanter Ancient to Modern Andy McConnell ACC Art Books 2018 Mr. McConnell finally came good and produced a monster book. I have well over 100 glass books (I haven't counted) and I think this is the best. If you don't collect decanters you may not think so, but if you are a serious glass collector this is a reference you must have, as it is better illustrated than any other glass book I have. Like I said, what glass collectors need is illustrations and descriptions and this book has it in spades.
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