5 comments about Eric Sloane's An Age of Barns: An Illustrated Review of Classic Barn Styles and Construction.

1. Other reviewers have done a good job of describing this and I agree with them. I'll just add that this wonderfully illustrated book really brought the memories flooding back.



2. Eric Sloane is known to many of us who love traditional country things as the superb and prolific American artist and author who gave us books with good words and even better drawings. Sloane was an accidental historian of that era of American life when agriculture was king. I cherish my copies of his A Museum of Early American Tools and A Reverence For Wood.
   
   The Age of Barns was first published in 1967. I saw this 2001 version lying on a table in a friend's house and begged to borrow it. The sub-title is An Illustrated Review of Classic Barn Styles and Construction. It is more than that as it also shows silos, root cellars, springhouses, sugarhouses, corn cribs and smoke houses. Also shown are tools of barn builders, construction methods, types of ventilation systems and even hinge design.
   
   Sloane shows the evolution of this most important structure with examples large and small and from many places. Medieval, English, German, American barns. Small and large log barns. The Appalachian overhung-loft barn built on two cribs, decorated Pennsylvania barns, a Georgia barn, a Maine barn, a Tennessee saltbox barn. Pent roofs, gambrel roofs, extended bays, threshing bays. Connecting barns, built so the farmer could do a winter day's chores without going outside.
   
   I have known two barns intimately. The barn on our Wisconsin farm was a classic two-story bank barn built of stone on the lower level with hand-hewn posts and beams above, a cupola topping it off. The farmer whose death allowed my parents to buy the farm had been an alfalfa producer so the barn had huge mows that were filled both from the outside using a hay hook and from the inside where teams and wagons were taken straight in and through. The dairy herd was housed in the lower section next to the sixteen-foot silo. I pulled a lot of, um, teats in that barn.
   
   The humble hillbilly barn at Heartwood in Missouri has two sections separated by a drive-through. In barns this design is called double-crib; in houses it is called a dog-trot. The construction is of hewn oak logs with half-dovetail corners. The logs are held off the ground only with loose stones, so early deterioration was inevitable. When the barn was still in pretty good shape we took a family photo one Fourth of July. My cousin and I hung the huge American flag that was hand-sewn by a grandmother for Lincoln's inauguration and we all posed in front of it on the ground.
   
   Born in 1905, Eric Sloane died in 1985, walking to a luncheon in his honor celebrating his memoir, Eighty: An American Souvenir. His fine books will live on long after him, a legacy of focus and craftsmanship.



3. Sloane's books capture the romanticism of the past better than any picture books, and that is certainly true for his An Age of Barns. The beautiful line drawings range from evocative perspectives to working sections, giving you a good idea of how these barns worked. There are Shaker round barns, traditional gambrel barns, Amish barn raisings and a wide variety of outbuildings associated with the early American farmstead. He lovingly focuses on hinge details, stairs and ventilation openings. Sloane's eye never missed a detail, and for anyone who loves old barns this is the book to get.



4. This has some interesting history of early barns, especially those of New England. Drawings are well done, as usual. If you are interested in barns west of the Mississippi look elsewhere.



5. and I understand that barn so much better now that I have read this book. Sloane gives a brief overview of the history of barns, regional types of barns, and even the tools to raise a barn. A lovely book.

5 comments about Pictorial Guide to Pottery & Porcelain Marks.

1. This is a very good reference book. The pictures are very clear and precise. A good addition to your reference library.



2. This book is a must, for all those interested in Pottery, and the manufacturers marks, obviously they cannot put every mark in the Word in it, but it has a fantastic range, and is interesting both to read, and study the photographs supplied, a great investment that I will use over, and over again.



3. I like this book very much. e.g. Photo of mark, dates used, and a typical item it would be marked on. It has the most popular companies, and if the company used many marks; they are here. I have yet to be disappointed in this book.



4. It's true, there are numerous marks, but I was truly disappointed that they were pictures taken on the object and the problem is they are not readable. The reason for having reference is to help identify a mark and year and I would have preferred an actually factory mark so it was legible and then how it might appear on product. Not all that helpful.



5. Excellent resource book for china & pottery marks, quality photographs of many marks, well organized. Highly recommend.

No comments about Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes.

5 comments about The Card: Collectors, Con Men, and the True Story of History's Most Desired Baseball Card.

1. The story of the world's most expensive baseball card, the T206 Honus Wagner PSA 8 NM-MT, isn't very complicated. Unearthed in 1985, it has changed owners a handful of times, netting each one a tidy profit. Its whereabouts for its first 75 years of existence are unknown. The reasons for its rarity have been speculated on, but are ultimately unknown. Whether the card has been trimmed somewhere along the way, a big no-no in the card collecting world and, if ever determined to be true, would permanently mar the hobby, is unknown. While O'Keeffe and Thompson perform an admirable job of attempting to answer these unknowns in The Card, the reader is ultimately left unfulfilled.
   
   What the authors do accomplish, however, is the painting of a vivid picture of the high end of sports card and memorabilia collecting. From the eccentric personalities involved to the back-room dealings to the heinous manipulation of items considered by some to be national or historic treasures, The Card lays it all out in unflinching detail. The king of the hill is Bill Mastro, the uber-dealer whose involvement has touched just about every sale of the Wagner. Surrounding him are other prominent collectors and dealers, some on his side, others attempting to dethrone him. While the authors exhibit a bias in who is "good" and "evil" in this fight, astute readers will recognize universal themes in this battle and be able to make their own judgments on motives. Like the question of whether the Wagner has been trimmed, the heroes and villains in this story are not clear-cut. What is clear, however, is that what used to be a fun hobby for boys and men with a touch of OCD has become commoditized by skyrocketing prices. Along with this commoditization comes all of its associated evils: all-encompassing greed, hubris, the destruction of national treasures. Ultimately, this unfortunate revelation will be The Card's final legacy.
   
   Written in a light journalistic style, The Card is easy leisure time reading and can be finished in a single sitting. While a bit erratic in detail -- the sections on Wagner's life as a player seem scant, while too much time is spent on the purported Wagner card owned by Ray Edwards and John Cobb -- the narration nonetheless flows easily from one topic to the next. Longtime hobbyists will probably find very little new information in The Card, though, and may even be distracted by easily quashable errors such as Alan Ray's assertion that the red printer's mark present when he owned the Wagner is now missing. However, this book was more than likely not written for hardcore collectors; its target audience being laymen with a passing interest in the hobby and its most expensive artifact. That being said, though, The Card does provide a decent aggregation of many of the tidbits of information on the Wagner that have been scattered amongst Internet message boards and whisper-filled back rooms. Advanced hobbyists may find it useful for that reason, although the lack of an index may at the same time hinder it. All in all, The Card is a decent book for card collectors' reference shelves, and as an exciting read for everyday folks.



2. First, let me say that this is, by far, the single greatest book ever written about the history of collecting. Even if you're not into cards, this book is a fast read which you absolutely will not be able to put down.
   
   THAT BEING SAID, I strongly disagree with the very premise that a card which was hand-cut from a production sheet is somehow worthless.
   
   THE Card is supposed to be "fake" or "worthless" because it has been "altered" or "trimmed". This is because it is designated PSA 8 NM-MT when PSA normally refuses to grade hand-cut cards.
   
   In other words, PSA violates their own rules. I submit that it's not THE Card which is fake. It's PSA's RULES. They should get over their bias against hand-cut cards from production sheets and start grading them, the way they grade strip cards from the 1920's and 1930's.
   
   99% of the vintage trading cards in existence were cut by machine at the factory. However, there were some cards which still existed as uncut sheets when collectors started getting into old cardboard back in the 1970's and 1980's.
   
   Some cards were distributed to the public as uncut sheets only. This was mostly in the 1920's through the 1940's. These cards are called "strip cards". You can see examples if you search eBay for "w551". Once in a while, you'll even see an intact uncut sheet from the 1920's in collector's circles.
   
   PSA will grade a strip card which was hand cut, no problem. If the margins are fully intact, they'll give it a numeric grade. If the card has been cut into the margins, they'll give it the dreaded "authentic". Either way, PSA provides a valuable service by doing so. Either way, a strip card is not considered to be a "Fake" or "Altered" in any way.
   
   What PSA refuses to do is this: let's say a card like a T206 or 1933 Goudey was distributed to the public in machine-cut form. If you happen to run across an uncut sheet of those cards and cut them out of the sheet, no matter how neatly, no matter how perfectly, PSA will refuse to grade your card.
   
   Well, I'm sorry, but that's just wrong. I've seen some absolutely beautiful hand-cut cards in my time. The cards are just as old, just as rare, just as desirable. The pictures are the same. They came off the same printing press. They are REAL, genuine, authentic, historically significant, and any true collector should be proud to own one.
   
   A good example is the 1944 American Beauties trading card set. This was a non-sports series of World War II pin-up cards by famed artist Gil Elvgren. Most were distributed in packs of 12 cards. There were only 24 cards in the set, so each pack contained 1/2 the set.
   
   HOWEVER, they were also distributed as strips of 6. You'll sometimes run across uncut sheets on the internet, and you'll sometimes run across neatly hand-trimmed examples of the cards. Genuine cards. From 1944. Identical in every respect to the cards from the packs, except for the trimming.
   
   Submit one of these cards to PSA, and they'll return the card. Mind you, they keep the $15 or $25 grading fee. But your card will be treated with about the same amount of respect usually reserved for those who murder puppies.
   
   In my opinion, that's just wrong. PSA makes the rules and PSA enforces the rules. The author of this book makes a compelling case that the most famous baseball card in the world was hand-cut from a production sheet. And he says it's "artificial" because that violates PSA's rules. The card isn't artificial. The RULES are artificial. So change the rules.



3. A person may have never collected one baseball card, but the T206 Wagner transcends that industry. And with any item worth millions of dollars, the pop culture publicity surrounding it has been a curse and a blessing.
   
   Authors Michael O'Keeffe and Teri Thompson take the reader on a wild ride of the history of the Honus Wagner tobacco card through the fiction that has oftentimes shuffled the facts to the clubhouse and the legacy of "The Card," the ultimate T206 that is worth at least $2 million.
   
   From cards as fake as the slimy smiles of a con-man to the high-stakes game in the art of the deal to obtain the ultimate collectible, the story is a home run that is hammered out of the stadium.



4. Wow! What a page-turner! Finished this in roughly 24 hours, something I haven't done in a long time.
   
   I haven't been interested in baseball cards since I was about 13, and I haven't been interested in baseball too much in the past ten years, but this book brought me right back to where I was in my youth.
   
   The book reads like a murder mystery that keeps you hooked, and tells all sorts of history about old time baseball cards, card collectors, Honus Wagner himself, and unfortunately all the card crooks found within the hobby.
   
   Highly recommended!!



5. I spent most of the 1980s collecting baseball cards. I started with the complete 1977 - 1979 Topps sets, collected for me by my dad as a failed attempt at giving me an inheritance. Most of what I bought and traded for later I stored in shoeboxes (the 1980 Topps set is in the cigar box that originally heralded my sister's birth). My mother never threw my cards away; I still have them all, many creased from having been transported to summer camp in my pockets.
   
   "The Card" is a fast, revealing read, and having lived the collector's life (in a penny-ante kind of way) I can say this is a must-read book for those of us over a certain age. It seizes on a single surviving 1909 T206 Honus Wagner card that recently re-sold at private auction for nearly $3 million, and how, through years of investigative journalism, the authors have fairly well proven that the card is not exactly what it purports to be.
   
   Apart from the hours I wasted cataloguing and re-cataloguing my meager collections (I once traded the 1977 Chris Chambliss for a 1983 tandem of Ed Lynch and Dave LaRoche; dumb, dumb move) I've never spent a million bucks on a card of dubious provenance. I once laid down $10 for a 1957 Topps Luis Aparicio, too big to fit into the 9-card-per-page collector sheets that housed lots of 1987 Mark McGwires and Garbage Pail Kids at the time.
   
   "The Card" is a terrific look at the dark side of the hobby. Since many of those noted as "villains" by the author declined to be profiled, the book mostly features interviews with collectors who've left the hobby out of heartbreak, or those who run honorable and transparent businesses trying to clean it back up. It's not just about baseball cards: it also touches on the grey market for "game-used" bats, autographs, jerseys and gloves. Billy Crystal makes a poignant cameo late in the story: he spent a quarter of a million collars on an item that isn't what he thought it was.
   
   At a card show last year I got autographs on two memorable cards: Bake McBride signed his afro on the '80s Topps card, and Alvin Dark signed for me his 1955 Bowman TV-set image. I will not be selling these items. Neither card is in near-mint to mint condition, as is the profiled T206 Wagner; neither card is particularly rare; and I got them signed for sentimental value, not for investment purposes.
   
   Confession, however: I did once trim a baseball card. This is part of a run of dubious practices, made easier with the advent of newer technology, where dog-eared cards are made crisp, and where aging borders are pared back to their original white and pristine state. In early 1983 a Junior Scholastic-type magazine I got in the mail came with an uncut partial sheet of eight 1982 Topps cards (I do have a mis-cut, from-the-pack 1980 Topps John Candelaria that's probably worth nothing). Being nine and having never seen an uncut sheet before, I promptly grabbed my safety scissors and got to work liberating the cards from their unified tyranny. Mangled all the cards in the process. Including the Orioles Future Stars card. With Cal Ripken, Jr. on it. To be fair, at the time I couldn't have known I was cutting up a card that, thanks to the hobby's implosion, probably isn't worth more than 20 bucks today, if that.
   
   One final note: the story of the T206 Wagner and its dubious rise to 7-figure investment property, opens in 1985 in a baseball card shop in Hicksville, New York. This is the same Long Island town that for 20 years unknowingly housed the Gospel of Judas. My mother (and all my baseball cards) currently reside in Hicksville. I'm going back to my collection one day and maybe see if I don't have a T206 Wagner myself sitting somewhere in that fated locale.

1 comments about Warmans Depression Glass: Identification And Price Guide (4th Edition).

1. This book is the best reference book on depression glass I've ever seen. It gives you a color identification guide, a shape guide, and a pattern guide. Each pattern identified is shown in very clear detail and the color pictures are wonderful. Patterns are presented alphabetically for easy reference. In the back of the book is a list of patterns by manufacturer and an index by pattern. I've never learned so much so fast. I highly recommend this book - especially to new collectors.

2 comments about The Winterthur Guide to Caring for Your Collection (Winterthur Decorative Arts Series).

1. This is a small book that gives the readers a basic understanding of how to care for any collection. Broken down into collection type (textiles, photographs, porcelain, toys, glass, etc.), the use of pictures and easy to understand principles has served as a quick reference to let me know what kind of preservation care would be needed for a certain item. Of course, the book is not designed to be the ultimate reference on detailed preservation care, but unless you're an expert and can access the detailed information you need from your own shelves, this serves as something that gives correct information without overwhelming those of us who might care for a personal collection or who have come across an item we are unfamiliar with. Very useful and one of my favorites!!



2. This is a great book and I have used some of the info provided to care for some textiles that I have.

No comments about Knives 2009 (Knives).

5 comments about A Dictionary of Costume and Fashion: Historic and Modern.

1. I believe the book is very complete, not only because of the word definitions, but also because of the pictures which show how costumes were in each fashion trend and in which we can see diferences between time an place. I have just recieved the book and that is the impresion I have from a quick look.



2. This text was required for my costume history course. I found it lacking -- many definitions do not have images to illustrate them, making learning difficult. Definitions are not very descriptive: if you're looking for a comprehensive fashion dictionary, this isn't it.



3. I just received my copy today, and I am thrilled with it. It is exactly what I was hoping for, a useful, easy to pick up (it's lightweight and not so large that it's a difficult reference), simple to use reference material for our costume shop. Includes broader headings (sportswear), as well as specifics, the pictures are great (although more would be helpful), and there are fabric descriptions as well. Highly recommended as a reference, do not purchase as a reading book. Perfect for a work setting.



4. I found this book to be rather comprehensive in terminology and volume of terms. I would have liked to have seen some dates for items, at least approximately. Eg: It is important to know when the zipper was invented in order to make a historically correct dress. But all in all the book has been helpful with definitions and illustrations.



5. The previous reviewer, Michelle Willingham, does not seem familiar with the use of a dictionary. It is not intended to be read, but consulted when information is needed.

   This is an excellent reference work, a classic in its field.

3 comments about Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop, Revised.

1. If you want to FORGE a knife this is the book for you....If you want to BUILD a knife===>There are others more suited for that



2. Wayne's first version of this book was the first knifemaking book i purchased. Wayne has guided me and been my mentor and friend from the first (approx 4 yrs ). This latest version is one of the best books a beginner could get. All the fotos and diagrams are in color which greatly helps in understanding the lessons. It has new fotos and diagrams all in color. Although this book has approx same number of pages as the original, it seems to contain 50% more info in it. I would reccommend this book to all knifemakers...beginner and experienced. Definitely a 5 star book.



3. I own both editions of this book. Wayne is a personal friend, and my mentor in knifemaking. It can be intimidating to read some publications and see all the high-tech machinery that some makers use. This book shows that people can develope their passion for making knives without spending a fortune. It is clear and concise, and takes alot of the guesswork out of being a beginner. Wayne learned knifemaking by trial and error, before there were books, magazines and videos on the subject. This book is a must have in the library of any knifemaker. I read mine constantly for reference and inspiration.
   
   Craig "MADKAT"

5 comments about Handbook of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins.

1. Book has some nice pictures and descriptions. Novice collectors will enjoy it.



2. This was the first book I purchased on the topic of ancient coins, and it provides a first-rate introduction to the hobby. It's a good general overview of what is available, and is written in a style that is welcoming to the greenest of beginners.
   
   This book would be a very good "first book" on the subject, and it would also make a great gift for someone who is just getting started on an ancient coin collection, especially for the price!



3. This well illustrated book is quick and easy to read and provides some basic information to for those intending to collect ancient Greek and Roman coins. It will help you recognize many common coins. It will allow you to interpret the inscriptions and in many cases the imagery on these coins. It is inexpensive.
   
   Some things will not be found in it, however. Republican Roman coins (a fascinating area) are strangely not covered at all. There is no information regarding assessing the quality of coins, cleaning them, recognizing fakes, determining price or caring for your collection. For this type of information you should look at Wayne Sayles' more extensive series. For coin valuation David Sear is invaluable. This book is a cheap and simple way to form an impression about ancient Greek and Roman coin collecting. Eventually, recognizing that the price of almost any coin described in the book is far greater than that of the book itself, serious collectors will want to invest in more extensive reference sources. One must start somewhere however, and this is a good place to do so.



4. I read only the part of this book dedicated to Greek coins (my area of interest) and learned much. There are many (black & white) pictures of coins as well as text dedicated to the inscriptions and people/gods found on the coins. However, the amount of information contained barely scratches the surface of the subject matter. I would buy the book again, but will continue to look for another title with more in-depth information.



5. This is the book to begin with if you think you may have an interest in ancient Western coins. This covers Greek coins from 680 B.C. to Roman Coins up to 476 A.D. The scope of this book is basically European coinage for roughly 1,000 years. What this book does NOT cover: Byzantine, Persian and Far East ancient coins.
   
   About 60% of the book (the first half of the book) is devoted to Greek coins, and the other 40% to Roman (mostly imperial) coins. There are lots of black and white pictures of real coin examples in both sections of the book. I will be focusing mostly on the Roman section.
   
   THE GREEK COIN SECTION:
   This begins with a description of how ancient coins were made.
   
   Greek 101 is not a prerequisite! The book teaches you how to read Greek characters on the coin inscriptions.
   
   It also goes through a pictorial history of Greek coinage: The Period of Archaic Art (680-480 B.C.), The Period of Transitional Art (480-415 B.C.), The Period of Finest Art (415-336 B.C.), The Period of Later Fine Art (336-280 B.C.)The Period of the Decline of the Art (280-146 B.C.), The Period of Continued Decline in Art (146-27 B.C.), and finally The Imperial Period (27 B.C. - 268 A.D.). There are lots and lots of pictures.
   
   THE ROMAN COIN SECTION:
   This was what I primarily bought this book for. There is a brief history of early Roman coins (how they were cast instead of struck), but there isn't much in the way of text or pictorial examples in regard to Roman Republican Coinage...this is nearly all Imperial (From Caesar Augustus (29 B.C.) to Romulus Augustus (476 A.D.).
   
   It goes through the denominations of Roman coins. It gives relative Roman values of: Aureus to Denarius to Sesterius to Dupondius to As to Quadrans. What it does NOT give much hint about ancient values is of later denominations like Antoninianus, Follis, Siliqua, and Solidus.
   
   There is a big picture section on Reverse Types of Roman coins, going through all the gods and goddesses that appear on the backs.
   
   There is an excellent section on how to read Obverse inscriptions. This is probably the most helpful section for the beginner. Included also is an extensive list of Emperor's names as they most commonly appear on the coins.
   
   Finally, there is an Emperor-by-Emperor coin-by-coin history of Rome, with very brief comments about each ruler. Only one coin per ruler is listed, so don't expect to find a lot of examples of each Emperor.
   
   CONCLUSION:
   What this book will NOT do is give you the present-day values of coins, the relative rarity of a coin, and it speaks nothing about grading coins. If you have poor-quality late Roman coins that you are trying to attribute, this book will be of minimal help. The best book I have found on the Subject of Roman Coins is David Van Meter's Handbook of Roman Imperial Coins: A Complete Guide to the History, Types, Symbols and Artistry of Roman Imperial Coinage. It is much more in-depth, but of course, it is a lot more expensive as well.
   
   This Handbook of Ancient Greek & Roman Coins serves as a fine introduction to these two subjects. Without breaking the bank, the huge amount of information contained in this 288-page Volume will give you a good idea if you want to pursue this subject further. For the range of coverage and the price, you can't go wrong.